The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday, June 30, announced Rahul Dravid will continue as India A and U19 coach for the next two years.
Even as the job of India senior cricket team's coach remains vacant following the resignation of Anil Kumble, the former India batsman has been handed a two-year contract by the governing body of cricket in the country.
Also, Dravid had to resign from his post of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Delhi Daredevils' mentor after the former member of BCCI Committee of Administrators (CoA), Ramachandra Guha, hit out at the batting legend, citing Conflict of Interest. The CoA even decided to offer coaches 12-month contracts in contrast to the 10-month deals that enabled the national support staff to work in the two-month IPL window.
It has now come to light that Dravid has been offered almost a 100 percent pay hike along with two-year contract extension. The increase in his salary can be seen as a reward to the former wicketkeeper-batsman for choosing national duty over cash-rich IPL.
Dravid reportedly earned Rs 2.62 crore during his initial 10-month stint as coach. And after two weeks of consultation, both the BCCI and the junior team coach have now agreed to Rs 5 crore as the latter's revised salary, according to The Indian Express. The Karnataka hero also earned the praise of BCCI top brass, which has labelled the batting legend's appointment "a bright sign for Indian cricket".
With Dravid is working with the U19 and India A teams, the senior side looks potent with solid bench strength. Quite a few youngsters, including Karun Nair and Rishabh Pant, who are impressing at the highest level have credited their former IPL mentor for their rise.
Dravid's next assignment will be a trip to South Africa as the coach of the India A side which will be playing a tri-nation series One-Day series starting 26 July against fringe players from Australia and the hosts. He will also be at the helm of Karun Nair-led first-class side, which will play two four-day matches against South Africa A.
His work with the junior team will also be important as next edition of U19 World Cup is slated for 2018 in New Zealand. Notably, Dravid led India U19 to the final of 2016 edition, which was won by West Indies.
Dravid, though, will not be travelling to England with the U19 side in July as the schedule clashes with India A tour of South Africa.
"He [Dravid] will go with India A tour to look after fringe players. There will be also one series with New Zealand A post the South Africa trip. Rahul will be available with India under-19 in the month of October. As the under-19 World Cup is next year itself, he will be getting four months with the players," a source close to the BCCI said, as quoted by the report.
