Who will be Indian cricket team's next head coach? Rumours and chaos unleashed as search continues

India’s memorable Cricket World Cup campaign ended with a heartbreaking defeat in the final to Australia, but the culmination of the ICC event has also given rise to a new drama. Head coach Rahul Dravid’s tenure came to an end with World Cup 2023 and Team India is now without a head coach as they take on Australia in the ongoing T20I series at home. Currently, National Cricket Academy (NCA) head, VVS Laxman, is filling in as the head coach on an interim basis for the T20I series as he had earlier as well in Ireland and Zimbabwe. This, however, is a short-term solution and the Men in Blue will need a full-time coach sooner rather than later as they get ready for a full-fledged tour of South Africa in December where they will be playing T20Is, ODIs and Tests. They face England in a five-match Test series at home early next year and there’s also the small matter of the 2024 T20 World Cup which will be played in the West Indies and the USA. Stability, crystal clear planning and perfect execution are going to be key for the Indian cricket team to do well in all these assignments and it was the same values that allowed them to win 10 matches on a trot in the World Cup before Australia secured an odds-defying win in the final. There, however, seems to be no clarity on what the BCCI is going to do. [caption id=“attachment_13378472” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Rahul Dravid’s tenure as Team India head coach ended with World Cup 2023. AP[/caption] There have been reports that BCCI wants Laxman to take over as India coach, while a few media houses have reported that Dravid will get an extension. Ashish Nehra has also emerged as an option. So far here’s all that we know: Immediately after India’s defeat in the World Cup final, Dravid was asked about his future, but he refused to give a clear answer. “I haven’t thought about it. I’ve just come off a game. I had no time to think about this and no time to reflect on this. Yeah, I will when I get the time to do that. “At this point of time, I was completely focused on this campaign and there was nothing else on my mind. And I haven’t given any other thought to what happens in the future,” Dravid said to reporters on 19 November . On Tuesday late night (28 December) and Wednesday morning (29 November), it was reported that BCCI is keen on giving a new two-year contract to Dravid, but before they work out the details of the contract, they want Dravid to accompany Team India to South Africa for the Test series which begins on 26 December. “BCCI secretary Jay Shah has had discussions with Dravid during last week. Obviously, the fine prints of the new contract are yet to be worked out. But BCCI wants Dravid to go to South Africa with the Test team,” a senior BCCI official told news agency PTI. In between 19 and 29 November, there were many different versions of leaks regarding who could be India’s next coach. 23 November: The Times of India reported that Dravid was not keen on continuing as India coach anymore and wanted to shift to the NCA head role, while Laxman was interested in the head coach position. “Dravid has communicated to the BCCI that he isn’t keen to continue as a full-time coach. For close to 20 years, he has travelled with the Indian team as a player, and for the past couple of years, he again went through the same grind, which he doesn’t want to undergo. He’s fine with a role at the NCA as the head there (a role he previously served in), which will allow him to stay back in his hometown Bengaluru. Like earlier, he’s fine with coaching the team sporadically, but not again as a full-time coach,” a BCCI source told TOI report. “Laxman has expressed his keenness for the job. During the World Cup, Laxman travelled to Ahmedabad to meet the BCCI’s top bosses in this regard. He’s likely to sign a long-time contract as the Team India coach, and will certainly travel with the team in that capacity for the upcoming tour of South Africa, which will be his first as the full-time India head coach,” said the report. 25 November: Dainik Jagran and Sports Tak reported that Dravid could be the next mentor of IPL side Lucknow Super Giant. A spot that has been left vacant since Gautam Gambhir moved to Kolkata Knight Riders. It was also reported that Laxman could be the next India coach. 26 November: A big news break on Sunday by news agency PTI stated that Dravid and BCCI had an in-depth discussion over his tenure. The board was satisfied with the work done but wanted to have a new coach in place now and that new coach could be Laxman. “Rahul and the BCCI had a talk about where things stand now. We will respect the decision taken by him. The general feeling is that with the T20 World Cup about 7-8 months away, there is time for a new coach to come in and build a team and set a process. He (Dravid) is quite aware of that,” a BCCI source told news agency PTI. The report added that no final decision has been taken yet. 29 November: A report in Indian Express stated that Ashish Nehra, Gujarat Titans coach, was given an offer by BCCI to be India’s new T20 coach but he declined it. Now, BCCI will be giving a new offer to Dravid to continue at least till the 2024 T20 World Cup. Dravid, Laxman and Nehra are all capable names. Dravid has already proven himself on the international stage as a coach but all good things come to an end. Only time will tell how good a replacement Laxman and Nehra prove to be and it is still possible that Dravid may continue as the coach, but whatever it may be, the best thing for Indian cricket will be for the board to arrive at a decision as quickly as possible.