Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) appointed the legendary cricketer Rahul Dravid as the new head coach of the Indian men's cricket team in November this year. Dravid replaced former head coach Ravi Shastri. But his appointment was a tricky task for the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
Sourav Ganguly, who led the campaign to appoint Dravid, has opened up on the long process that he and the BCCI secretary Jay Shah went through to convince Dravid of the job.
“We had Rahul in mind for a long period of time, both me and Jay Shah, but he wasn’t agreeing because of the time away from home and because doing a national team’s job is [about being] on the road for about 8-9 months in a year and he has two young children,” Ganguly said on 'Backstage with Boria' in a video on YouTube channel Xtra Time.
Ganguly also said that even the players in the team were consulted about the kind of head coach they want at the helm. After hearing the players' suggestions, the BCCI management was sure that Dravid is the right fit for the team, and the same was communicated to him.
“And when we spoke to the players also about what sort of person they want, you could clearly see that, there was an inclination to Rahul so we communicated that to him. I spoke to him personally many times.
“Luckily, he agreed and I don’t know what triggered the change in his mind but he agreed and I think this is the best BCCI could have done in terms of coaching once Ravi Shastri left,” Ganguly explained.