Rohit Sharma welcomes stalwart Rahul Dravid as new India head coach

India batter Rohit Sharma is looking forward to working with new India head coach Rahul Dravid. The 48-year-old was announced as the India coach on Wednesday (November 3). Dravid will take over the reins from incumbent head coach Ravi Shastri after the 20-20 World Cup, with New Zealand T20Is being his first assignment.

Rohit Sharma welcomed the appointment of Rahul Dravid and said it will be an honour working with a stalwart like Dravid. “Yeah, is it official? Obliviously, we were playing the game, so I had no idea. Congratulations to him for coming back but in a different capacity in the Indian team. We look forward to working with him. He’s a stalwart of Indian cricket, and it’ll be nice working with him in the future,” said Rohit during a virtual post-match press conference.

This is the 48-year-old’s first full-time appointment with the senior men’s team. Dravid had previously coached India during the limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka, in the absence of Ravi Shastri who was in England with the main team. Apart from that, he has coached India Under-19 and A teams. Dravid has also been the director of National Cricket Academy (NCA) for several years.

Speaking about his appointment, Dravid said it's an honour to coach India, adding that he will look to drive the team in the right direction. “It is an absolute honor to be appointed as the new head coach of the Indian Cricket Team and I am really looking forward to this role. Under Shastri, the team has done very well, and I hope to work with the team to take this forward,” said Dravid in a statement released by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).