Dravid would ‘love’ to coach India

Revered former India captain Rahul Dravid has caused much excitement among his countrymen by admitting he would happily take on the role of India coach.

As the guest speaker for this year’s Dilip Sardesai memorial lecture, Dravid covered a variety of topical issues, and when asked whether he would like to coach the India team, he replied, according to various sources: “I would absolutely love to.”

The comment has fuelled the fire of speculation surrounding the position, and comes after Dravid was last month linked with a mentoring role for the national side following their disastrous Test series in England.

"Dravid is attached to the Rajasthan Royals for the upcoming Champions League," an unnamed Indian official told the Indian Express at the time.

"However, we have big plans for Rahul.

"We want him to be the permanent mentor of the Indian team.

"He understands these players like nobody else and the players respect him also.

"We will ask him to take up the role during the home series against West Indies and also when the team travels to Australia for the Test series."

The immediate fallout from the Test series defeat in England saw newly appointed director of the India team Ravi Shastri take the reins from coach Duncan Fletcher for the ODI series, subsequently won 3-1 by the tourists.

Dravid also weighed in on the debate surrounding suspect bowling actions in the sport, essentially endorsing the crackdown but dismissing throwing as a form of cheating.

“I think ICC has a rule in place,” he said.

“When they reviewed a lot of old footage they found a lot of former cricketers were doing it (bowling with a bent arm) too.

“Glenn McGrath also had a bend at the 15 degree angle but let me make it clear, McGrath wasn’t chucking.

“What I am glad about is they are strict about this. They also have kept it consistent.

“ICC is doing a good job with vigilance – monitoring, checking the bowlers all the time.

“It is not that once you are cleared it’s done; there is a constant eye on every bowler, which is good.

“We shouldn’t look at chucking as a crime – it’s just a technical fault that the bowler (has).

“It’s like a no-ball when you overstep – you are told to go back and bowl again within the line; nobody says you are cheating.

“You should allow them to go back, correct their action and come back.”