Ravi Shastri In Line To Become India Head Coach Again? Former Cricketer’s Remark Sparks Speculation

The head coach’s position of the Indian men’s team will go vacant after the T20 World Cup 2024 as Rahul Dravid’s tenure ends.

New Delhi: Former India head coach Ravi Shastri might be in line for the top job again after the BCCI invited applications formally to replace Rahul Dravid, whose tenure ends after the T20 World Cup 2024 next month. Shastri, whom Dravid succeeded after the 2021 T20 World Cup, has engaged himself in commentary duties in the ongoing Indian Premier League, had been with the national side for seven long which included witnessing India create history in Australia in 2018-19.

With the BCCI deadline for submitting applications run till May 27, besides Shastri, the names of VVS Laxman, Gautam Gambhir and Stephen Fleming, have also cropped up as potential candidates. In a chat show with Rajasthan Royals star Ravichandran Ashwin, the former India all-rounder was asked whether he would take up any coaching job in IPL.

“Not really. Not after doing India for seven years. You never know what can come up in the future and how involved you might want to get,” said Shastri. Coaching India on the senior level is a tough job as it requires atleast 10 months of travelling around the world. Although Shastri’s comment doesn’t reflect he wants the India job again but his ‘you never know what can come up in the future’ remark can’t be ignored either.

The 61-year-old also stated that he got freedom when he got the mic in the IPL. “You know, there is no doubting the experience you have and what you can bring to the table, but after 7 years with the Indian team, especially those times when you were there, the toughest time that game has seen since the World War II, during Covid, quarantine and the bubbles, you just wanted to break from the dugout, the dressing room and everything.

“The broadcasting and the mic gave me the freedom to express myself again. And have some fun,” Shastri added. It’s been three years since he left the Indian dressing room and won’t come as a surprise if the former all-rounder wants to jump into that hat again with a T20 World Cup, a WTC final, a Champions Trophy and a ODI World Cup in the horizon in the next three years.

Shastri, who has the highest win percentage as India head coach in Tests, also opined that it’s all not about money but the contributing to the youth factor too. “You don’t rule that out. Once you have been involved with the game and played the game and you wanted to contribute to the youth, then that will always linger in your mind. It’s not just the money part of it, but also the contributing factor.

“How you can get into the heads of the young kids and pass on the knowledge you have before you forget it yourself. If I ever go there, it will be precisely for that reason,” Shastri explained. Under Shastri, India won 28 Tests out of 46 matches.