BCCI extends Dravid's contract but tenure yet to be decided, Laxman to remain at NCA
New Delhi(PTI): The BCCI on Wednesday extended the contract of Indian cricket team head coach Rahul Dravid in order to maintain continuity following the senior side's stupendous performance in the ODI World Cup where it won 10 games in a row before losing the final.
However, there was no mention of how long his new tenure would be in the press release issued by the BCCI.
"The Board of Control for Cricket in India announces the extension of contracts for head coach Rahul Dravid and the support staff of Team India (senior men)," the sport's apex body said in a statement.
"The BCCI engaged in productive discussions with Dravid after the term of his contract ended following the recently-concluded World Cup and unanimously agreed to further the tenure," it added.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah said that Dravid will have "full backing" of the board, moving forward in his endeavour to win the ICC Trophy, which is missing from the cabinet for the last decade.
"Having won 10 consecutive games before the final, our World Cup campaign was nothing short of extraordinary, and the head coach (Dravid) deserves appreciation for setting up the right platform for the team to flourish.
"The head coach has our full backing, and we will provide him with all the support needed for sustained success at the international level," the BCCI secretary said in a statement.
"The last two years with Team India have been thoroughly memorable. Together, we have witnessed the highs and lows, and throughout this journey, the support and camaraderie within the group have been phenomenal," Dravid said.
The PTI had on Tuesday reported that Dravid's contract would be renewed with the BCCI looking for continuity in the set-up helmed by the legendary cricketer over the last two years.
Dravid had replaced Ravi Shastri after the T20 World Cup in 2021, getting appointed for a two-year term which ended with the ODI World Cup.
Under Dravid, India also finished as runners-up in the last World Test Championship, losing to Australia in the final. Along with the 50-year-old Dravid, his support staff comprising batting coach Vikram Rathour, bowling coach Paras Mhambrey and fielding coach T Dilip have also got an extension.
It is expected that his stint would be at least till the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the USA in June-July next year.
The PTI had reported that Dravid had been offered an extension and asked to helm the affairs in South Africa as they work on the modalities.
While VVS Laxman, the NCA head, who has often filled in for Dravid when the latter was taking short breaks, is believed to have informed the brass that he is more comfortable working with pathways teams such as India A and India U-19, apart from being actively involved in cricketing matters with regards to the new NCA set-up in Bengaluru.
"The Board also appreciates VVS Laxman for his exemplary roles as Head of NCA and as the stand-in Head Coach. Similar to their legendary on-field partnerships, Dravid and Laxman have worked closely in driving Indian Cricket forward," the BCCI's release makes it clear that both for the time being will continue in their respective roles.
BCCI president Roger Binny, who has been a bridge between the board and the head coach, also welcomed the decision.
"The performances of the Indian Team are a testament to his strategic guidance. I am delighted that he accepted the offer to remain the head coach, and it speaks of the mutual respect and shared vision between him and the BCCI."
Dravid said that he will remain committed in pursuit of excellence in this post World Cup phase.
"The demands of this role necessitate considerable time away from home, and I deeply appreciate my family's sacrifices and support. Their instrumental role behind the scenes has been invaluable. As we embrace new challenges post the World Cup, we remain committed to the pursuit of excellence," he said.
It must be mentioned that Gujarat Titans coach Ashish Nehra never had any intentions of being the head coach of the national team as he has always said that he "wants to honour his contract with GT till 2025".
Nehra has a young family and he doesn't want to live out of suitcase at the moment and being the India coach involves extensive travelling. Two and half months of IPL coaching is all he is looking at right now.
However, in future when the time is right, he might consider being a white-ball coach of national team.
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FIDE Women's World Cup final: Humpy draws with Divya in first game
Batumi (Georgia), Jul 26 (PTI): Young Indian International Master Divya Deshmukh held her nerves to hold stalwart Koneru Humpy to a draw in game 1 of the FIDE Women's World Cup final, with both players having their share of opportunities to take the lead here on Saturday.
The draw with black means Humpy, the two-time World Rapid champion, holds a slight edge going in the second and final game under the classical chess rules in the two-game mini-match, and should the deadlock continue, games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner.
Humpy employed the Queen's gambit accepted as black and it turned out to be a pretty fascinating game right out of the opening as Divya, 19, came up with a piece sacrifice early to deny the black king the right to castle.
Humpy was the first to err and, according to computers, Divya had things under control on the 14th move. However in her bid to recover the extra material, the Nagpur girl, who has secured a place in the Candidates tournament with her sterling performance here, missed a promising continuation.
What followed the exchange of all minor pieces and the ensuing queen and rook endgame gave enough counter play to both players. The game was eventually drawn after Humpy sacrificed her rook to force perpetual checks.
"The game saw an extremely sharp battle with the game ending in a draw in 41 moves. On move 7, Divya made her aggressive intentions clear by offering another pawn,
which looked like home preparation. Humpy made a practical decision of refraining from taking the pawn and a balanced position was reached by move 10 by white," said Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay, an Arjuna awardee and the first Indian to get a chess Grandmaster norm.
"However, instead of developing the undeveloped Knight, Humpy retreated the centralised Knight on move 10, giving huge positional advantage to Divya. Divya could have gained huge positional advantage on the 12th move by moving a rook. However, she chose to play for King side attack by sacrificing a piece instead.
"Humpy, too, erred at this stage and instead of moving the King to Queen side, moved it to the King side. Divya, on move 14, could have obtained a crushing attack by threatening a mate by developing her Queen. Instead she chose to exchange a pair of Bishops first, which enabled Humpy to defend her King by returning the piece," said Thipsay.
"Players thus reached a balanced Queen and two Rooks ending. Divya continued to play ambitiously and tried to attack Humpy’s King but the latter defended accurately and the game was drawn in 41 moves by perpetual check," he added.
In the play-off for the third place, Chinese players Zhongyi Tan, the former women's world champion and top seed Lei Tingjie also decided to split points out of a Queen’s gambit declined game.
The opening raised visions of a close contest between the two but having been knocked out of title race in the previous round, none of them wanted to take any huge risk. It was still a middle game when the players shook hands.
With the top two positions sealed for the Indians, the berth to the next Candidates is also assigned, while the player finishing third will also get an entry to the premier event scheduled for 2026.
Results: Divya Deshmukh (Ind) drew with Koneru Humpy (Ind); Zhongyi Tan (Chn) drew with Tingjie Lei (Chn).
