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The official deadline to apply for the Indian men’s cricket team’s head coach role ended on May 27 (Monday), a day after IPL 2024 finished. Apart from clearing that no Australian cricketer has been approached for the same, the BCCI has stayed tight-lipped about the names that have applied. If one reads between the lines of BCCI secretary Jay Shah’s last statement, Rahul Dravid’s replacement is likely to be an Indian. Reports suggest it is most likely to be Gautam Gambhir. However, Virat Kohli’s childhood coach, Rajkumar Sharma, has a different opinion.
The Dronacharya awardee coach floated in legendary cricketer MS Dhoni‘s name. “First of all, it will be interesting to see which names apply for this post. I would like that whoever becomes the coach should be an Indian. If Mahendra Singh Dhoni announces retirement, he can prove to be a good option. He (Dhoni) has played a lot of cricket and has won big tournaments,” he said on India News’ program CRICIT PREDICTA.
Dhoni hasn’t officially announced his IPL retirement. IPL 2024 was perceived to be the former India captain’s last but the Chennai Super Kings legend has kept everyone guessing. CSK CEO Kasi Viswanath has in fact gone on record saying that he is expecting Dhoni to be back for another season.
Rajkumar Sharma said Dhoni will have the respect of the dressing. He is a proven captain with two World Cup trophies. When he took over as captain, the Indian team was filled with big names and Dhoni managed things quite well, said Sharma.
“Dhoni will have more respect in the dressing room and he has played this format for a long time. Being able to plan for the team and manage it properly, is most needed in the team because when Dhoni became the captain, there were big players in that team like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Gautam Gambhir, and Yuvraj Singh were present. Despite this, Dhoni handled the team brilliantly,” Sharma added.
Dhoni had worked with the Indian team as a mentor during their campaign in the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE.
Former India fast bowler Atul Wasan offered a different perspective on the role of a coach in T20 cricket. “I think the role of a coach should be removed in T20 cricket and a mentor should be kept in its place and a format expert should be kept. Just as AB de Villiers is a specialist in T20 cricket. The West Indies team ruled world cricket from 1979 to 1989. Is it because of your coach? India won the 1983 and 2007 World Cups because of its coach. According to me, the work of a coach is limited to taking the team from the field to the hotel. I will not give the coach the responsibility for the team’s loss and also the credit for the team’s win. Just as in football, there are managers, not coaches. Similarly, in cricket too, instead of a coach, there should be a manager who manages the team.”
Dravid’s contract as India’s head coach will end this year after the T20 World Cup.
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