Rahul Dravid will travel with India Men as their head coach for the upcoming Sri Lanka tour. Dravid has previously worked with India as a batting consultant during the England tour in 2014, and as coach of India A and India Under-19s from 2015 to 2019. He has been the chief at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) since 2019.
As per a report of ANI, a BCCI official said Dravid will coach India for the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka in the absence of Ravi Shastri, Bharat Arun and Vikram Rathour. In that period, the trio will be leading the India Men Test squad in England.
‘The Team India coaching staff will be in the UK and it is best that the young team is guided by Dravid as he has already worked with almost all of India A boys. The comfort the youngsters share with him will be an added advantage,’ ANI quoted the official.
Dravid’s NCA colleague Paras Mhambrey is also likely to accompany Dravid in Sri Lanka. Mhambrey has previously worked as a bowling coach of India U-19 and India A.
India will play three ODIs against Sri Lanka on 13, 16, and 19 July. The three-match T20I series will follow, between 22 and 27 July.
At the same time, another Indian side, led by Virat Kohli, will lock horns with England for the five-match Test series, starting 4 August. This series will begin after their World Test Championship final against New Zealand, from 18 June.