New Delhi: A day after the appointment of Anil Kumble as Team India’s head coach for a period of one year, BCCI president Anurag Thakur has said that the former leg-spinner was not the board’s first choice for the job. Instead, former skipper Rahul Dravid was the first preference.
According to Thakur, Dravid didn't turn down the job, but expressed desire to work more with the junior team.
"I requested Rahul Dravid to coach the Indian team. He didn't say no, but said that he will work for the junior team," Thakur was quoted as saying by a NDTV report.
Lauding Dravid's decision, Thakur said, “That is the good thing about Dravid, he didn't go for the senior team post, big money and all. He wanted to work for the junior cricketers and not the senior team.”
It should be noted that Dravid had last year declined to join the board’s powerful Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) of which Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar are the members.
Dravid coached the U-19 Indian side to the finals of the junior World Cup earlier this year. He also served as the Team Mentor for the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL this year.
The BCCI yesterday named former India skipper Anil Kumble as the head coach of the national cricket team for the next one year. Kumble's first assignment with the national team will be the gruelling four-match Test tour to the West Indies next month.
