Laxman likely to succeed Dravid as India head coach

India head coach Rahul Dravid is not keen to extend his contract and his long-time India teammate VVS Laxman is likely to take over from him, as per a report published in the Times of India (TOI).

It is understood that Dravid has already let the BCCI know about his decision not to continue. Laxman, who is currently in charge of the second-string team for the five-match T20I series against Australia, has emerged as the obvious successor. 

India great Laxman at present is the head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru and has served as the national team head coach in quite a few white-ball series in the absence of Dravid.

"Laxman has expressed his keenness for the job. During the World Cup, Laxman travelled to Ahmedabad to meet the BCCI's top bosses in this regard. He's likely to sign a long-time contract as the Team India coach, and will certainly travel with the team in that capacity for the upcoming tour of South Africa, which will be his first as the full-time India head coach," a source in the BCCI told TOI.

The end of Dravid's two-year contract coincided with the closure of the World Cup where India almost went all the way.

"Dravid has communicated to the BCCI that he isn't keen to continue as a full-time coach. For close to 20 years, he has travelled with the Indian team as a player, and for the past couple of years, he again went through the same grind, which he doesn't want to undergo. He's fine with a role at the NCA as the head there (a role he previously served in), which will allow him to stay back in his hometown Bengaluru. Like earlier, he's fine with coaching the team sporadically, but not again as a full-time coach," the source added.