Dravid turned down India head coach job to work for junior team, says Anurag Thakur

BCCI PRESIDENT Anurag Thakur revealed that former India skipper Rahul Dravid was the original choice for India’s head coach role. However, the BJP MP said that the legendary batsman showed willingness to continue coaching the India Under-19 squad and hence Kumble was sought for the high profile job.

In an interaction with NDTV, Thakur said,

“I requested Rahul Dravid to coach the Indian team. He didn’t say no, but said that he will work for the junior team.” 

The Indian cricket Board thus had to appoint an Advisory Committee comprising Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly to help finalize a candidate perfectly suited for the lucrative designation. Eventually, Anil Kumble was made the head coach of India.

The BCCI president showered praise on Dravid for coaching the promising youngsters instead of pursuing big bucks.

“That is the good thing about Dravid. He didn’t go for the senior team post, big money and all. He wanted to work for the junior cricketers and not the senior team."

Also, a few months ago, Dravid had revealed his reluctance for taking up the senior team coaching role touting that he fancies the short-term assignments.

“I can only do short-term assignments, I can’t stay away from home for long periods of time, short assignments suit me better.”