Rohit Sharma reveals chat with Rahul Dravid on quitting Indian head coach role

India captain Rohit Sharma has revealed his chat with head coach Rahul Dravid about the latter quitting his role with the Indian cricket team.

Sharma, speaking in a press conference ahead of the team’s T20 World Cup 2024 opener against Ireland, said that he tried to convince Dravid to extend his contract.

Dravid did not choose to extend beyond the T20 World Cup 2024 and will be vacating his position after the T20 World Cup is over. The Board of Control for Cricket in India have already invited applications for the role. Sharma got emotional while talking about Dravid and said that it would be a difficult moment for him when Dravid has his final day as the India coach.

“He was my first international captain. We saw him play. He is a huge role model for all of us. He did a lot for the team over the years. I saw him when he came as coach. We won almost all the major tournaments with him. He is the first person who said that this is what we have to do, this is important for the team. I have personally tried to convince him to continue as coach, but he has his own priorities. I will not be able to see him go,” Rohit Sharma said.

Sources had revealed to Indiatoday.in that Gautam Gambhir is set to replace Rahul Dravid as the new head coach of the Indian senior men’s national team. The chatter around Gautam Gambhir taking up the role of the head coach grew louder during the second half of the IPL 2024 season. However, considering his renewed association with the Knight Riders, it remained to be seen whether the former opener would show interest in the demanding job.