Three biggest challenges for Rahul Dravid in his second term as Indian Cricket Team's head coach

BCCI has retained Rahul Dravid as Indian Cricket Team’s head coach along with the entire support staff.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced Rahul Dravid as the head coach once again as Dravid accepted the extension on contract offered by the BCCI. Rahul Dravid already served as Indian head coach for the last two years and India played three ICC events under him. Rahul Dravid will also retain his support staff as BCCI has also granted them an extension along with Dravid. Vikram Rathour as remains the batting coach, T. Dilip will serve as the fielding coach while Paras Mhambray will be India’s bowling coach. It is still unclear about the period they will remain with the Indian team as there is no official clarity given by the BCCI in this regard. 

Rahul Dravid had an impressive first tenure as India’s head coach and he is widely credited for his experimental approach that led to several youngsters coming through. Team India played two back-to-back finals of the ICC events in 2023 under his tenure but were unlucky to not break the jinx of knockout games. Rahul’s upcoming challenges will be much bigger as once again India will be entering into a transition period soon. The likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravi Ashwin are already considering their white-ball future. He will be playing a pivotal role in Indian cricket in the next few months. Let’s have a look at the challenges ahead of him in the second tenure. 

Here are the three biggest challenges for Rahul Dravid in his second tenure as Indian Cricket Teams head coach:

1. Identifying the next captains across formats:

When Rohit Sharma was announced as Indian cricket captain, the team’s main target was the recently concluded ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. India lost the final against Australia and now they will have to look to the future and aim for the next 4 years. Rohit Sharma is 36 years old and may not carry himself for more than two years in international cricket. Rahul Dravid’s biggest challenge will be to identify the next Indian captain across formats. There are a few names always doing the rounds but Rahul’s challenge will be to identify and groom the next leadership prospect in Indian cricket. 

2. Ending the ICC trophy drought:

Team India’s ICC trophy drought is now more than 10 years old and once again they failed miserably in crucial moments. India’s final ICC event win came in the ICC Champions Trophy that was played in 2013 in England under MS Dhoni. From there, India remained empty-handed in the big events as they suffered several knockout losses across formats. The recent heart-breaking loss in the World Cup 2023 final came under Rahul Dravid’s tenure and with the next big event just 6 months away from now, Dravid’s biggest challenge will be to end the drought and win the T20 World Cup in West Indies next year. 

3. Identifying the next crop of fast bowlers in test cricket:

Team India under Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri worked better in the pace bowling department and they both together made India’s pace attack among the most threatening ones in international cricket. India’s pace attack under Rahul Dravid did a magnificent job, now he will be assigned to look at the next crop of fast bowlers for India. With Bumrah, Shami aging, and Ishant Sharma already gone, Dravid’s main target will be to bring the next generation to the forefront. India will be playing 2 test matches against South Africa earlier in 2024 and then tour to Australia in December 2024. 

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