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India vice-captain Rohit Sharma welcomed the appointment of Rahul Dravid as head coach of the senior team, saying the players are looking forward to working with the batting great.
“We were playing the game (against Afghanistan), so I had no idea (about it). Congratulations to him (Rahul Dravid) for coming back in a different capacity in the Indian team; we look forward to work with him,” Rohit said at the virtual press conference, hours after the BCCI appointed the former India captain as Team India’s coach.
Dravid was appointed head coach of India’s men's cricket team by the BCCI, on Wednesday, a development that was imminent after the batting great was convinced by the board's top brass to take up the job.
The former right-handed batsman, who was working as head of the National Cricket Academy, was appointed for a period of two years, till the 2023 50-over World Cup in India.
He will take charge from the upcoming home series against New Zealand, starting November 17.
“He (Dravid) is a stalwart of Indian cricket and it will be nice working with him in future,” quipped Rohit, who played an important knock of 74 in India's 66-run win against Afghanistan in a Super 12 match of the T20 World Cup in Abu Dhabi.
Senior India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin also backed the BCCI's move to give Dravid the top job.
"I think Rahul bhai (Rahul Dravid) has got an immense depth of knowledge and he has got good wishing for anything he does in life. He is somebody who has done the hard yards," Ashwin said during a virtual pre-match press conference in Dubai on Thursday.
"He (Dravid) has gone through the journey and the grind of being at the NCA, he has gone through the Indian A (team), he knows what's in store, he has played with some of us inside this dressing room.
"He also knows all the young boys and I am really looking forward to the stint and trying to contribute alongside Rahul bhai," said the Tamil Nadu tweaker, who made a comeback to white-ball cricket after four years.