Rahul Dravid set to quit as mentor of Delhi Daredevils

There was a persistent clamour on the conflict of interest issues ever since Ramchandra Guha raised his concerns over the same. Rahul Dravid was one of the very few people who held two important positions – coach of the U-19 India as well as the ‘A’ side and mentor of an IPL franchise. The former India captain, in a letter to CoA, had sought clarity on the guidelines in order to be aware of the rules.

New guidelines doesn’t have a window for IPL

BCCI issued a fresh set of guidelines and were distributed to all state associations. Under the new guidelines, Dravid cannot hold two positions at the same time. Earlier, the BCCI had rolled out 10-month contracts for national coaches so that they could take part in the IPL in the remaining two months of the year. The BCCI is now all set to give a 12-month contract to Dravid to avoid any such issue to crop up in future.

By virtue of that, Dravid is set to quit as the mentor of Delhi Daredevils to continue as the coach of the India U-19 and India ‘A’ squads. The Karnataka-born former cricketer has contributed immensely to the growth of a lot of cricketers in the last year and a half. He is set to be given a 12-month contract for two years.

Paycheck issue might arise

“We’re likely to finalize his fresh contract when we meet him today. He’s fine with accepting a 12-month contract for two years, which means that he’ll have to quit as mentor of the Delhi Daredevils. The only issue is compensation, and we expect him to come up with a figure which we can afford,” a source told TOI.

Dravid used to earn Rs 4 crore previously in the previous 10-month contract but earned a similar amount working in the IPL. Now, the IPL stint out of the question, Dravid may charge a higher amount.

“We’re hoping he quotes a reasonable figure for himself, because the senior Indian team’s coach would have to be higher paid. At the same time, we don’t want him to suffer losses for missing out on IPL duty,” an official told TOI.

IPL’s loss will be a gain for the larger vision. Dravid’s experience and man management skills are brilliant for grooming upcoming cricketers. Youngsters like Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya have spoken highly of Dravid’s contribution in their career growth.

Dravid has set an example for the others by choosing country over the glitz and glamour of IPL. Not many people would do that but the former No. 3 has always known for seeing the larger picture.