Here's what Rahul Dravid has to say about working with six different captains in his reign as head coach

The Indian team has managed to create a huge bench strength in the last couple of years. Thanks to the Indian T20 League, they have managed to develop a lot of leaders in the team. The team has now reached a situation where they will feature a sixth different captain under Rahul Dravid's reign as the head coach. Hardik Pandya has been appointed as the Indian team's skipper for the two-match T20I series against Ireland.

Dravid began his stint as the full-time head coach during the T20I series against New Zealand in November 2021. This was also Rohit Sharma's first series as the full-time T20 captain after Virat Kohli had stepped down from the position. Ajinkya Rahane then captained the Indian team in the first Test match against the same opposition when Virat had taken a break.

The 33-year-old then returned to captain the team in the second match in Mumbai. Virat Kohli-led the Test side in South Africa before stepping down as Test captain at the start of 2022. KL Rahul then led the Men in Blue for the first time in Test cricket — in Johannesburg while Kohli was injured and Rohit had missed the tour– before heading them in the ODI series against the Proteas.

Rohit then captained the squad for the full home season — white-ball games against the West Indies and Sri Lanka – and for the first time in a Test against Sri Lanka. India dominated the whole home season.

Rahul was appointed as the team's captain for the five-match T20I series against South Africa, with Rishabh Pant serving as his deputy. However, a groin injury ruled KL Rahul out of the series, leaving Pant in charge.

It has been challenging but great fun- Rahul Dravid

Dravid has remarked that he has enjoyed working with six different leaders since taking over as head coach last year. He stated that because of the hectic schedule, players need to relax, which is why India has had so many players captaining them in recent months.

"Probably been 6 captains in the last 8 months that I have had to work it. Which wasn’t the plan when I first started. But it is the nature of COVID, the nature of the number of games we playing, it is about managing the workload of the squad," he said as quoted by The Cricket Lounge.

"Few changes in captaincy means I have had to work with quite a few people over the last few months which in itself has been challenging but great fun too. It’s good a lot of guys have got to lead the team and given us the opportunity to create leaders in the group," he added.