Rahul Dravid Named Batting Consultant for England Tour
Rahul Dravid will assist Duncan Fletcher as Team India's batting consultant on the current tour of England.
Rahul Dravid will assist chief coach Duncan Fletcher as Team India's batting consultant on the current tour of England. Dravid was the only successful Indian batsman when MS Dhoni's team were drubbed four-nil in the last Test series in England in 2011.
Dravid, who is the coach of Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League, is regarded as a master tactician and his presence in a dressing room full of young players will come in handy. India play a five-Test series starting July 9. He will be with the team till the beginning of the first Test.
The move was initiated by the team management, according to BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel.
"It was the coach (Duncan Fletcher) who approached us on behalf of the team and said it would be good to have Rahul with his vast experience spend some time with the boys ahead of the series," Patel told ESPNcricinfo. "We immediately requested Rahul and he readily agreed."
Former India captain Dravid retired in 2012 after a successful Test career during which he scored 13288 runs. In 164 Tests, Dravid scored 36 centuries, with his maiden ton coming in South Africa in 1997. Dravid was also a successful ODI batsman, scoring 10889 runs with 12 hundreds.
Although branded as a classic Test batsman, Dravid was a master at pacing his innings and his knowledge of English conditions will help several inexperienced batsmen on the current tour party. In the 2011 series, Dravid scored 461 Test runs when the rest of the batting failed.
Dravid's inclusion has been praised by former Test opener Akash Chopra.
Rahul Dravid to be the batting consultant for the tour of England...wonderful decision by the BCCI. #kudos
- Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) June 29, 2014
In recent times, Dravid's name was proposed by Sunil Gavaskar, who wanted Fletcher sacked after the ICC World T20.
Dravid had then refused to take full-time responsibility citing his media and other commitments. BCCI, of course, retained Fletcher's services till the end of the 2015 World Cup.