Rahul Dravid began his coaching stint as head coach of the Indian cricket team with an emphatic 3-0 win in the T20I series against New Zealand, followed by a thrilling draw in the first Test in Kanpur, but the road ahead is going to be really challenging for him given the hectic schedule.
Recently, former India cricketer and BCCI official Saba Karim spoke about the challenges that lie ahead for Dravid as India head coach, especially heading into the very busy times in all three formats.
Karim said on Times of India's podcast – Sportscast: “There's a huge challenge ahead for Rahul Dravid as a Head coach. He has to look after the Test team, he has to prepare for the T20 World Cup coming up in Australia next year, and then you have the One Day World Cup coming up in 2023.”
He further added, “For all these three formats to have that kind of communication with the players and the selectors, to pick the right kind of resources, to give them enough time to prepare - it's not going to be easy. But I think the kind of maturity and the kind of experience that Rahul Dravid has over the past several years, I am sure he will be able to deliver.”
Saba also said that Dravid’s biggest challenge would be to find the perfect balance between the quest for the win and the quest for progress in T20I cricket.
Meanwhile, the former wicketkeeper-batter believes that Dravid has a lot to offer to Indian cricket and the BCCI may look at giving him a much bigger role in the future.
Karim even said that he already sees Dravid as the Director of Indian Cricket Operations to take the game forward in the country.
Karim said, “I actually visualize Rahul Dravid in a larger role. Not now, maybe two years down the line. I look at him as becoming the Director of Cricket Operations in India and under him, all the verticals of Indian cricket should fall - Team India, Women's Team India, U-19 India, India A - that's the image I have of Rahul Dravid in my mind and I feel that will be great for BCCI. That's the kind of role I would like Rahul Dravid to have and I hope the BCCI can think along those lines also.”
He signed off by saying that Dravid's personal experience of having played the game at the highest level and coaching India A and U19 teams, as well as being one of the legends of the game, will help him in his job as India head coach.
