India coach question: Rahul Dravid replies, but doesn’t answer
By: Express News Service | New Delhi | Published:April 7, 2016 3:57 am
news,Cricket Rahul Dravid is one of the frontrunners for the India coach job. (Express photo)
With his name floating around as the front-runner for India’s coaching post, with certain sections of the media even claiming he has even rejected the offer, former India skipper Rahul Dravid was predictably asked whether the BCCI has approached him for the job, and less significantly, if he was ready for the challenge during an interaction in the city. Dravid’s reply, typically, was non-committal. He took a slightly philosophical guard, saying he will only undertake the job if he feels he has the “bandwidth to do all of these things.â€
Dravid, whose stints with India A and colts during the U-19 World Cup had drawn considerable praise from the cricket fraternity, stated he wouldn’t take a hasty decision. “It takes time. You can never really say that now you are ready and now you are not. That’s an experience, a learning. You have to do it to only know. Everyday you do it and you want to learn,†he explained.
He asserted he will have to weigh in several factors before accepting the role. “Anything that comes back to you needs to be weighed with lot of consideration, not only in terms of whether you feel you want to do it but also the time that is involved in doing lot of these things — what does it entail and what does it require, can you devote time and energy, anything that you would want to do, you want to ensure you are completely 100 per cent focussed on it,†he observed.
Leaning against the Wall
The Delhi Daredevils mentor confided he’s still getting accustomed to the manifold challenges of a coach. “I am quite young in this kind of space. There were a lot of things I didn’t think as a player. As a captain, I had to think about strategy and things like that but not to the depth of what you need to do as a coach. Your mind and energy are diverted to other things, so you think a lot about things that I didn’t think as a player. You make mistakes and then I realise how I could have things differently. It’s not important whether results come or not but can you give that level of commitment and level of time for doing anything like that (coaching India),†he specified.
He then drew a cricketing parallel. “If I wanted to be really good batsman, I recognised the time, sacrifices and devotion I had to make for it. It takes time. You can never really say that now you are ready and now you are not. That’s an experience, a learning. You have to do it to only know. Everyday you do it and you want to learn,†he said.
BCCI will discuss if Dravid is the right man: Thakur
All the same, whether Dravid has been approached, formally or otherwise, remains unclear. To believe secretary Anurag Thakur, they have yet to approach him, after the Cricket Advisory Committee comprising Dravid’s former colleagues Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman proposed his name to the board. His name, however, will be zeroed in only after discussions within the board. “Before taking any call, we have to discuss that within BCCI that who we want to hire for the next two or three years till the 2019 World Cup and who could be best for Indian cricket. But I would like to assure you that we will pick the right person, at the right time,†he Thakur, during an interaction with fans on a social networking website.
He, however, rubbished reports of the board approaching him. “I think media publishes many reports which are not even discussed at any level. Rahul Dravid has done extremely well as a player and he has been outstanding with India A and U-19 players. But we have not made any official offer,†he said.
Both Dravid and Thakur toed a cautious line. But expect the coaching drama to hog headline space this coming IPL season.
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