Unusual split-captaincy scenario
Rahul Dravid has been named Head Coach of the Indian Men’s National Cricket Team and is to succeed Ravi Shastri in the role. The former India U19 coach is coming into the role with Team India in a good position in world cricket, albeit in desperate need of ICC trophies to prove their dominant position.
However, a pretty strange situation has come to be due to Virat Kohli’s resignation from captaincy in the game’s shortest format. He does, however, remain the skipper of the Test side as well as the ODI team.
In terms of split-captaincy, national teams have generally opted to split the white-ball and red-ball cricket teams. Australia did the same thing when they made Aaron Finch the white-ball captain and Tim Paine the red-ball side’s leader.
Similarly, as part of their white-ball project, England chose to appoint Eoin Morgan as their white-ball leader and allowed Joe Root to continue playing as the leader of the Test side.
Probably in a unique unravelling of events, India will have Virat Kohli not as captain merely for the T20I format. How Dravid and the management handle this situation is sure to be something to look out for.
Rohit Sharma appointed T20I captain
Rohit Sharma is set to take over the reins of the T20I side from Virat Kohli. Several pundits and cricket enthusiasts believe that appointing the sensational opening batter as captain is the right move. Many also believe that he will take over the captaincy for the ODI side sooner or later.
Rohit is set to lead Team India in the upcoming T20I series against New Zealand, which will also be the first taste Dravid gets as Head Coach of the Indian side.
Dravid and strong personalities
Questions are being asked if Dravid can manage strong personalities in the team, especially the captains Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. With Dravid being a solid character himself, there is speculation as to whether he could face the same fate as Anil Kumble.
However, Dravid, unlike Kumble, is not new to handling big egos and personalities. He has enough experience from his time with the India U19 and India A sides, not to mention that he also had a stint with the Rajasthan Royals, who had some big names like Steve Smith and Shane Watson.
Keeping his experience and personality in mind, there is no doubt that Dravid is a no-nonsense man and will ensure the best outcome for Indian cricket.
Pundits like Harsha Bhogle have stated that the Indian team will not become a coach’s side and remain the captain’s team. If that is the case, then there is no doubt that Dravid has a mature-enough head to understand the captain’s needs and play a supporting role in providing the best solution for Indian cricket.
However, there are doubts about whether this move could make a shift in the functioning of the management of Indian cricket. If Team India genuinely become the coach’s team, we could see some changes in its functioning.
It is still uncertain what Dravid could bring to the table if he is granted such power. Being the shrewd tactician that he is, however, Dravid would undoubtedly have some plans chalked out for the future of Indian cricket across all formats.
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