Rahul Dravid may miss the U-19 tour to England

Last week, Rahul Dravid’s tenure as the coach of India A and U-19 was extended for another 2 years, and his contract with Delhi Daredevils terminated, after there emerged a conflict of interest in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) which says that a national coach cannot be a part-time IPL coach for two months of the year. However, this time, another new debate regarding Dravid’s duties has emerged.

Now there are questions on the rationality of Dravid coaching both the teams, because the tournaments for both are likely to collide, which is happening now itself. Dravid will not travel with the Colts to England that begins on July 5. The reason being that he will be busy with the India A team that will tour South Africa later this month. The former India captain has been given a handsome money of Rs. 4.5 crore per year for coaching both the teams.

The India `A’ team is scheduled to play two four-day games and a One-day tri-series in South Africa. But it has also been confirmed that he will “supervise” the pre-tour camp for the Colts, beginning in Bangalore from Tuesday. “We’ll appoint a coach in place of Dravid for the India U-19 team,” a top BCCI official told TOI on Monday.

Coaching staff for U-19 still undecided 

Meanwhile, there is still no clarity on who all will be a part of the coaching staff for the Colts. Their camp has begun without assistant coaches – Abhay Sharma the fielding coach and Paras Mhambrey the batting coach.

“Everyone will have to get their conflict of interest issues cleared before they sign contracts with us, and we’ll give everyone a 12-month contract now,” informed the source. “We’ll soon announce the entire coaching staff for the England trip,” he further assured.

Dravid has already been successful with both India A and U-19 and if not for tournament dates clashing, he is the perfect choice as the coach for both the teams.