‘So happy to see that his tenure has been extended’ - Sourav Ganguly reacts to Rahul Dravid’s contract extension as India coach

Former India cricketer Sourav Ganguly is elated by the news of Rahul Dravid extending his contract as the head coach of the national team. The 51-year-old mentioned that he was not surprised by BCCI’s decision to retain him as India were phenomenal in the recently concluded ODI World Cup.

Notably, Dravid took over as the head coach of the team after the T20 World Cup 2021. Ganguly himself played a huge role in bringing him to the set-up after Ravi Shastri’s contract came to an end. Meanwhile, after the ODI World Cup, there was a lot of dilemma regarding Dravid’s situation as VVS Laxman was the favourite to replace him but the prior decided to stick with the team. Ganguly has now come out wishing Dravid well for the T20 World Cup in 2024.

“I'm not surprised that they have shown faith in Dravid. When I was president of the Board, we convinced him to do this job. And I'm so happy to see yesterday that his tenure has been extended.

“It was always the case, depending on whether he wanted it or not. I wish him luck for another World Cup in June. He was very close this time. They may not have won it, but they probably were the best team in the competition with the way they played. So he's got another seven months for a World Cup in the West Indies. Hopefully, at that time, he will not be runners-up, but a champion,” Ganguly told reporters in Kolkata. 

In the meantime, neither Dravid nor BCCI gave clarity regarding Dravid’s tenure. When the former cricketer was asked about it, he mentioned that the board would clarify it after he along with the other support staff sign the new contract in the coming days. It is understood that the deal with be penned down before the team flies out to South Africa but they agreed on verbal terms.