When CoA wanted Rahul Dravid as coach but the former India captain chose family over post 

Former Indian cricket team skipper Rahul Dravid was among the top contenders for the post of the head coach of the Indian team as he had the backing of the BCCI’s Committee of Administrators (CoA), but the Karnataka legend chose not to pick up the baton.

CoA chairman Vinod Rai in a Facebook chat with Sportskeeda on Sunday recalled how the CoA had wished for Rahul Dravid to take up the role of head coach, but the former Indian stalwart turned it down by saying that ‘family comes first’.

“Rahul was very upfront with us. He said, ‘look I have two boys growing up at home and I have been travelling with the Indian team all over the world and I am not able to give time and attention to them, I think I must stay at home also. And give time to my family.’ I think that was a very fair request and though he would have been uppermost in mind. So, he was very much in the zone of consideration,” Rai revealed.

The former CoA chairman also acknowledged the fact that Dravid was gracious enough to accept the request of becoming the head coach at the National Cricket Academy.

“Dravid is a head coach at NCA. He was very kind and very gracious in accepting that and committing himself to the NCA,” Rai said.

Rahul Dravid wanted to continue with the junior team

Captain Virat Kohli had declined to work with coach Anil Kumble and prior to that Rahul Dravid was approached by the board officials to head the coaching panel. However, incumbent coach Ravi Shastri got the deal.

Even the contract with Kumble was for a year, and it was during this time that Rahul Dravid’s name came for consideration the second time. But the three-member Cricket Committee went for Shastri again.

“Look, in terms of potential for coaching, Dravid, Shastri and Kumble are the best in the business. We definitely talked to Rahul. He was engaged with the Under-19 team and he was involved with them. He had developed a road map on how to develop a team. He was bringing out fantastic results. He wanted to continue because he felt that there were some unfinished task with that team and he wanted to do it,” Rai said while talking about the interaction he had with Dravid.

Rai also admitted that he is a big Rahul Dravid fan.

“I am a fan of Dravid. On the ground off the ground, anything,” he added.