Rahul Dravid, the former India captain and new head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA), will coach the Indian limited-overs team in a six-match series against Sri Lanka in July. This will be his second time with the Indian side, having previously served as a batting coach during the 2014 England tour.
A BCCI official familiar with the situation told ANI that the NCA chief will be in charge of the squad, as the trio of Ravi Shastri, Bharat Arun, and Vikram Rathour would be in England with the Test team.
“The Team India coaching staff will be in the UK and it is best that the young team is guided by Dravid as he has already worked with almost all of the India ‘A’ boys. The comfort the youngsters share with him will be an added advantage,” the official said.
Dravid had worked closely with the new batch of youngsters in the Indian squad at the U-19 level as well as the India ‘A’ team before taking over as the president of NCA in 2019. In particular, after taking charge of the U-19 and ‘A’ teams in 2015, he is widely regarded as having played a key role in the national team’s development of a strong bench.
The Indian squad for the Sri Lanka series is scheduled to be named by the end of the month, and the players will be quarantined in the Island Nation before playing the three ODI and three T20I matches.
Dravid retired from international cricket in March 2012, but he continued to play for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League for two more seasons. He was also the side’s coach until he resigned in 2013, despite being the captain and a senior figure.
Dravid formally took over as a coach of Rajasthan Royals in 2014, a team noted for grooming talented players. It was ideal for him because he was honing his hygiene abilities as well. RR finished fifth in his first season as a coach, losing out on a playoff spot by the tiniest of margins to the Mumbai Indians on net run pace.
RR came third in 2015, losing in the eliminator to RCB. After the defeat, RR had a successful season.
