Rahul Dravid: 'I haven’t yet signed a contract with the BCCI'

Rahul Dravid on Thursday revealed he was yet to sign any papers despite BCCI officially announcing the extension of his tenure as Team India head coach.

Dravid’s contract, along with those of the support staff — Vikram Rathour (batting), Paras Mhambrey (bowling) and T Dilip (fielding) — had expired a day after the ICC World Cup final and the former India captain had remained tight-lipped on his future in the role.

The BCCI however, would put an end to all speculation by officially announcing the extension of Dravid’s contract along with those of the support staff, though they did not disclose details such as the duration of the renewed contract.

On Thursday, on the sidelines of a BCCI meeting in New Delhi to select India’s squads for the upcoming tour of South Africa, Dravid revealed the paperwork formalities are yet to be completed.

“I haven’t yet signed a contract with the BCCI but had discussions on tenure. Once I get the papers, I will sign,” Dravid told reporters outside the venue of the BCCI meeting.

Watch:

I haven’t yet signed a contract with the BCCI but had discussions on tenure. Once I get the papers, I will sign: Head coach Rahul Dravid after World Cup and contract review meeting pic.twitter.com/L35WTH55Gj

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 30, 2023

Dravid’s revelation came shortly before the BCCI announced India’s squads for the tour of South Africa, with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli skipping the white-ball leg of the tour and returning to action in the Tests. Suryakumar Yadav and KL Rahul have been named skipper for the T20Is and ODIs respectively while pacer Jasprit Bumrah will serve as Rohit’s deputy in the Test series.

It has been reported that Dravid’s tenure as head coach will run till next year’s T20 World Cup that will be jointly hosted by the West Indies and USA.

Before the BCCI’s announcement, there had been speculation of Dravid stepping away from the job and possibly handing the reins to VVS Laxman, who has filled in for him in the ongoing T20I series against Australia, or Ashish Nehra.

Dravid had taken over as head coach from Ravi Shastri after the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE, with the Indian team reaching the semi-finals of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia and finishing runners-up in the World Test Championship final and the Cricket World Cup in 2023. India were especially ruthless in the recently-concluded ODI World Cup on home soil, winning 10 matches in a row only to suffer a heart-breaking six-wicket defeat against Australia in the final.

The only multi-nation event that India won during Dravid’s reign was the 2023 Asia Cup, in which India hammered Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in the final after bowling them out for 55 and had earlier thrashed Pakistan by 228 runs in the Super Four match.