Rahul Dravid was very much in the zone of consideration for India coaching job: Former CoA chief Vinod Rai

Former chief of the Committee of Administrators Vinod Rai has revealed that they had approached Rahul Dravid to offer him the head coach’s position for Team India but the former captain turned it down.

Vinod Rai said Rahul Dravid refused to accept the offer as he wanted to continue coaching the India U-19 team and also be able to give sufficient time to his young family.

“Rahul was very upfront with us. He said ‘look I have two boys growing up at home and I have been travelling with the Indian team all over the world and I am not able to give time and attention to them, I think I must stay at home also. And give time to my family’.

“I think that was a very fair request and though he would have been uppermost in mind. So, he was very much in the zone of consideration,” Rai told Sportskeeda.

“Look, in terms of potential for coaching, Dravid, Shastri and Kumble are the best in the business.

“We definitely spoke to Rahul. He was engaged with the Under-19 team and he was involved with them. He had developed a road map on how to develop a team.

“He was bringing out fantastic results. He wanted to continue because he felt that there were some unfinished task with that team and he wanted to do it,” Rai added.

Ravi Shastri bagged the Team India coaching job in 2017 after Anil Kumble resigned from the post, citing untenable differences with captain Virat Kohli. Shastri’s tenure was then extended in 2019 till the 2021 T20 World Cup.

Dravid, who was working with the India A and U-19 teams as coach, was later appointed head of the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru in July last year.

“He was very kind and very gracious in accepting that and committing himself to the NCA,” Rai said.