Rahul Dravid confirms T20 WC as his last assignment as India coach

India’s head coach Rahul Dravid has confirmed that the ongoing T20 World Cup will be his last assignment. Dravid has not re-applied for the chief coach role after doing a fine job for the national team.

“It is going to be the last one that I am in-charge of,” Dravid said ahead of India’s first game against Ireland in New York. “Yeah, just considering, unfortunately, the kind of schedules and where I find myself at this stage in my life, I don’t think I’ll be able to re-apply. So yeah, obviously it’ll be my last one. But having said that, it’s (the significance of the tournament is) no different for me.”

Dravid said he loved doing the job and it was his pleasure to work with some of the best players in the world.

“I love doing the job. I’ve really enjoyed coaching India and I think it’s a truly special job to do. I enjoyed working with this team and it’s a great bunch of boys to work with,” he further said.

Dravid took over the coaching reins from Ravi Shastri in November 2021 after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup. Under his tutelage, the Rohit Sharma-led team qualified for the semifinals of the T20 World Cup 2022, the ICC World Test Championship final, and the ODI World Cup final in home conditions. 

Under Dravid, India won 14 of the 17 bilateral T20I series, including in England and New Zealand. During his tenure, India also won 10 of the 14 ODI series and 6 of the 8 Test series. Thus, he had a fantastic reign as a head coach.

“To be very honest, I don’t see this as anything particularly different or significant. It’s from the first day I took the job. I always felt that every game was important and every game mattered. And that will not change,” he said.

Meanwhile, former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir is now a red-hot favorite to take over from Rahul Dravid.

“I would love to coach the Indian team. There is no bigger honour. You are representing 140 crore Indians and more across the globe as well, and when you represent India, how can it get bigger than that? It is not me that will help India win the World Cup, it is 140 crore Indians who will help India win the World Cup,” Gambir said at an event in Abu Dhabi.