Rahul Dravid refuses to take part in the India under-19 selection committee meeting

What’s the story?

Former Indian captain, Rahul Dravid, has refused to participate in the India under-19 selection committee to avoid any engendering new controversies. Dravid’s 10-month contract with the BCCI ended right before the Indian Premier League this year and he technically is not the head coach of the team right now.

“Dravid has informed BCCI that he won’t be attending selection committee meeting as he doesn’t want any controversy. His contract is yet to be renewed and as he is no longer the coach of India Under 19 team. He said that it will be unfair on his part to attend the meeting without owning the job,” a BCCI source told the Indian Express.

The veteran Indian batsman believes that he does not have the authorization to be present in the meeting right now and is not interested in cutting corners for the same.

The 44-year-old was invited to the selection committee by the BCCI to give his insights to aid the squad selection for India’s tour of England, which is scheduled to commence around mid-July.

In case you didn’t know...

Dravid mentored the Delhi Daredevils in 2016 as well as 2017

Under the new mandates put forth by BCCI’s Committee of Administrators (CoA), all national coaches will be signing a contract of two years, whereby they will not be permitted to coach any other side (including the IPL teams).

Since Dravid had a 10-month contract with the India ‘A’ and u-19 teams ended on March 31 this year, he could mentor the Delhi Daredevils in IPL 2017 that hit the stage on April 5.

The details

Following Ramchandra Guha’s stormy letter post his resignation from the BCCI panel, a lot of questions were raised with regards to the conflict-of-interest conundrum. The cricket historian did not explicitly Dravid anywhere in the letter but went on to say that certain big names are given 10-month contracts so that they can be a part of the IPL support staff in the remaining two months.

Dravid, who seemed disturbed by the allegation, penned a letter to the BCCI asking for upfront clarification on the issue. BCCI responded saying that the former cricketer was not in violation of his contract and did not supersede its directives.

The controversy has probably led Dravid to decline the invitation so as to disengage his name from further speculation.

What’s next?

Dravid is likely to take up the mantle of coaching both the teams once again, provided he gets a clear directive to follow so as to avoid any such controversy in the future. The selection of under-19 coach will follow the same process that has been undertaken for the selection of India’s head coach.

Dravid, like Anil Kumble, will get a direct entry into the same.

Author’s take

Dravid has a personality that prefers to operate under the radar and stay away from all possible scandals. Hence, his refusal to sit on the selection committee does not come as a surprise.

The man from Bangalore has had a great stint with both the teams that he has coached and you would hope that he signs at least one more contract to continue guiding the potential international players in them.