Dronacharya Award: Dravid's name not recommended

The response from the Board was essentially to dispel any speculation related to the awards.

The CoA chief Vinod Rai had earlier confirmed Dravid’s nomination for the Dronacharya award.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday categorically denied having recommended Rahul Dravid for the 2018 Dronacharya Award.

Reacting to reports that Dravid was BCCI’s nominee for the award given for excellence in coaching, a top Board official told  Sportstar  that there was no truth in it. 

Read:  Dhawan, Smriti recommended for Arjuna awards

It may be recalled that Committee of Administrators (CoA) chief Vinod Rai confirmed Dravid’s nomination for the Dronacharya award.

The response from the Board was essentially to dispel any speculation related to the awards. According to sources, the BCCI did recommend Sunil Gavaskar for the Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award, little realising that the legendary opener did not meet the eligibility criteria.

Any candidate conferred with either the Arjuna or Dronacharya award is not eligible for the Dhyan Chand honours. 

Gavaskar had won the Arjuna in 1975.

The BCCI has never recommended any name for the Dronacharya award ever since two coaches claimed to have trained the same cricketer.

Of the five Dronacharya awardees in the past – Desh Prem Azad (1986), Gurcharan Singh (1987) and Sunita Sharma (2004) had been recommended by the Sports Authority of India while Ramakant Achrekar (1990) and Rajkumar Sharma (2016) were recommended by their students, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli.