Rohit Sharma reacts to Rahul Dravid’s appointment as team India head coach

India opening batter Rohit Sharma has welcomed the move of appointing Rahul Dravid as the head coach of the senior men's team.

Dravid was appointed head coach of the senior side on Wednesday and he will take over the reins from Ravi Shastri after the ongoing T20 World Cup.

"Yeah, is it official? Obviously, we were playing the game, so I had no idea. Congratulations to him for coming back but in a different capacity in the Indian team. We look forward to working with him. He's a stalwart of Indian cricket, and it'll be nice working with him in the future," said Rohit during a virtual post-match press conference.

Earlier, Dravid said that he is honoured to be appointed as the new Head Coach of the Indian Cricket Team. The Cricket Advisory Committee comprising Sulakshana Naik and RP Singh on Wednesday unanimously appointed Rahul Dravid as the head coach of Team India (Senior Men).

Dravid will take charge from the upcoming home series against New Zealand. "It is an absolute honour to be appointed as the new Head Coach of the Indian Cricket Team and I am really looking forward to this role. Under Shastri, the team has done very well, and I hope to work with the team to take this forward," said Dravid in a statement released by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

"Having worked closely with most of the boys either at NCA, U19, and India A setup, I know they have the passion and desire to improve every day. There are some marquee multi-team events in the next two years, and I look forward to working with the players and the support staff to achieve our potential," he added.

The BCCI had invited applications for the said position on October 26 to appoint Ravi Shastri's successor, whose term gets over after the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup.

India became the first Asian team to win a Test series in Australia (2018-19) and followed it with another series win in 2020-21. India was also the first team to win all five T20Is in a bilateral series when it blanked New Zealand 5-0. Under Shastri and his team's guidance, India won all their seven Test series at home.

(ANI)

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