Former India captain and junior coach Rahul Dravid will move to a bigger cricketing role on Monday when he takes charge of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore on a two-year contract.
As the NCA’s head of cricket, Dravid will groom the next generation of cricketers and chart out a roadmap for junior cricket. He will also monitor upcoming women cricketers besides appointing the coaching staff at NCA and the zonal cricket academies. The batting great will also spearhead the NCA’s rehabilitation programme for injured cricketers.
The new role means Dravid won’t be able to travel with the India A and under-19 teams as he used to. Former India pacer Paras Mhambrey and Abhay Sharma remain part of the junior team support staff.
“He will travel with India A and under-19 teams but not for the entirety of the tour. It is a much bigger responsibility and it will require him to spend more time at NCA than with the junior teams,” a Board of Control for Cricket in India official told PTI after the Committee of Administrators meeting in New Delhi on Saturday.
“Mhambrey and Sharma will continue to be with A and under-19 team for now. Though we are looking to bolster the coaching staff,” he added.
Another matter discussed at the meeting concerned a conflict of interest vis-a-vis current and former cricketers in the wake of the order passed by BCCI ethics officer and former Supreme Court judge D. K. Jain on V. V. S. Laxman and Sourav Ganguly.
Keeping the soul of the Lodha reforms in mind — one person, one post — Jain had ruled that ex-India batsman Laxman will have to chose one role out of the three he is involved in currently.
He is a member of the Cricket Advisory Committee, from which he has offered to step down; mentor of Indian Premier League franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad and a commentator.
The ruling also affects Ganguly, who too is commentating at the World Cup besides being a CAC member, Bengal cricket chief and advisor of IPL side Delhi Capitals.
Based on Jain’s order, even current players like Irfan Pathan, Parthiv Patel and Robin Uthappa could be barred from commentating. All three are involved as World Cup experts on various platforms.
It is for the BCCI to enforce Jain’s order, but the board is not in a hurry to rush to a decision.
“We will examine the order. We will also take the opinion of our legal team. At this moment, it is tough to say when we will decide on the matter,” the official added.
Comments
SHARE