Who will succeed Rahul Dravid? BCCI eyes Ponting, Fleming for India head coach job

With the tenure of Team India’s coach Rahul Dravid ending in June with the 2024 T20 World Cup, the race for the next Indian cricket team coach has turned interesting.

As per its advertisement, the BCCI plans to have a new coach take over by July 1. The person will be in charge till the end of 2027. The tenure entails significant challenges like the 2025 Champions Trophy and the 2027 ODI World Cup. Media reports suggest that Indian cricket team may have an overseas coach after a long time.

There has been a lot of buzz around BCCI informally approaching former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming and former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting to succeed Dravid as the Indian cricket team’s head coach.

Foreign coach?

Fleming is currently the Chennai Super Kings head coach and during his tenure, the team has won five IPL titles. The Indian Express reported that BCCI consider Fleming as a “suitable candidate” due to his man management skills and pedigree. However, CSK have denied any such rumours and CEO Kasi Viswanathan said that there has been no such communication between Fleming and the franchise till now.

“I have not heard anything like this. There has been no communication from Stephen Fleming to CSK either,” CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan told Sports Now.

The response of both the cricketing greats to the BCCI offer has been tepid, as per a report in RevSportz. Though both of them have a vast experience in cricket, the prospect of a full-time commitment seems to be the deterrent, said the report.

Team India had a good experience with foreign coaches like John Wright and Gary Kirsten who guided the team to Test match triumphs and also a World Cup victory. However, the stint of Duncan Fletcher as the team’s coach didn’t yield the desirable results.

Laxman unlikely

Meanwhile, Rahul Dravid, who got an extension in the job after the ODI World Cup 2023, informed the Board before-hand that he will not be seeking another extension for personal reasons, as per a report in Sportstar. Some seniors had requested him to continue with the Test team but he refused, the report added.

VVS Laxman, the head of the National Cricket Academy, was speculated to be one of the front-runners for the post. However, he too is unlikely to enter the fray for the top job, said the report.

In the past, the combination of Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri worked wonders for the Team India in Test matches as the team secured historic triumphs in Australia and England, though they fell short of lifting an ICC trophy. Again, Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid’s partnership also led to commendable feats but the team’s quest for an ICC title remained unfulfilled.

Now, with the BCCI setting May 27 deadline for receiving applications for the post of the team’s head coach, it would be interesting to see whether a foreign coach will indeed succeed Dravid as the Board seems keen on having one.