Team India New Coach Rahul Dravid names white ball new Captain

A lot of things about the Indian cricket team is going to change after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup 2021. Rahul Dravid will be the new head coach and the people will witness a new face leading the team in the shortest format of the game.

Virat Kohli had already announced that he will step down from his post after the ongoing tournament and if a few reports are to be believed, he may lose his post in the 50-over format as well, if the Men in Blue fail to qualify for the semi-finals. While the BCCI ended all the speculations around the new head coach on Wednesday, it’s yet to pick Kohli’s successor.

Several cricket experts believe Rohit Sharma to be the frontrunner while a few have suggested the names of KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant. Dravid was touted to take over from Shastri due to his staggering record as India A and the U-19 head coach, from 2016-2019.

Moreover, he has also served Indian cricket selflessly as the head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA), Bengaluru post his coaching stint. When he was named as the stand-in coach for India’s limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka in mid-2021, speculations were rife that the former Indian captain was in-line to replace Shastri.  

Dravid is set to work with Virat Kohli, who will step aside as the T20I captain of the Men in Blue post the World Cup. While Kohli’s future as ODI captain can also be discussed, depending on how India fare in the T20 WC, as per The Indian Express, Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI is also eager to rope in a new captain in ODIs. It is expected that the new T20I captain will don the captaincy hat in two formats.

While shorter format’s vice-captain Rohit Sharma seems to be an ideal choice, plans could change if the board wishes to make a young player as the limited-overs captain. As per The Indian Express, Dravid was asked about the new white-ball captain by the Cricket Advisory Committee during his interview process.

In response, he has backed Rohit and KL Rahul for the job, the report mentions. Rohit, who is the most successful IPL captain with 5 titles, has led India in Kohli’s absence in the shorter formats. Under him, India won the Nidahas Trophy and Asia Cup in 2018. His tactical awareness and calm and composed nature has been lauded by many former cricketers in the past.

It will be interesting to see if Kohli loses his captaincy post from the ODI format. Will BCCI name Rohit as the white-ball captain or spring in a surprise by naming Rahul or Rishabh Pant as the limited-overs skipper..need to wait and see..

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