Rahul Dravid to remain India’s head coach till T20 World Cup: Jay Shah

Rajkot, Feb 15 (PTI) Rahul Dravid will continue to remain in the position of India’s head coach till the upcoming T20 World Cup in June this year, confirmed BCCI secretary Jay Shah.

Dravid’s contract ended after the ODI World Cup final last year, but he was asked to continue in his role along with other support staff for the December-January tour to South Africa without finalising the tenure.

But Shah said he held an initial talk with Dravid here before arriving at the decision to retain the former captain’s services till the ICC showpiece to be held in the West Indies and the USA.

“After the (2023) World Cup, Rahul bhai had to leave for the South Africa tour immediately. We did not get to meet in between which finally happened today,” Shah said here on the sidelines of the renaming function of the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Wednesday night.

“Why are you worried about a contract for such a senior person like Rahul Dravid? Rahul bhai will remain the coach in the T20 World Cup,” Shah asserted.

However, Shah indicated that they will hold a few more rounds of discussions ahead of the marquee event.

“I will speak with him whenever there is time, there are back-to-back series happening right now. They were in South Africa, then there was a (T20I) series against Afghanistan (at home) and now England. We did not get to speak in between at all,” he added.

Shah said the IPL franchises will have to comply with workload management guidelines set by the BCCI for the centrally contracted players.

“This is the BCCI’s mandate. The BCCI is the supreme body and whatever it decides the franchises will have to follow — we are above the franchises,” he said.