Laxman to replace Dravid as cricket academy head: Ganguly

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly on Sunday confirmed that former Indian batter VVS Laxman will be taking charge as the head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

When ANI contacted Ganguly about whether Laxman will be taking charge as NCA head, he replied: "Yes".

Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly has always spoken about the need to have former cricketers in the system to help the game grow. And as BCCI president he worked towards getting Rahul Dravid to agree to become the head coach of the Indian team.

Earlier, speaking to ANI, sources in the know had said not just the BCCI chief, but even secretary Jay Shah and other senior officials want Laxman to take up the NCA role as the BCCI has in the last few years seen the NCA head work closely with the Team India head coach.

"Sourav and Jay both would love to have Laxman take up the NCA role. But yes, the final call obviously lies with the former India cricketer as he has a young family also. He is undoubtedly a front runner for the role and not to forget how he has been known to share a special bond with now coach Dravid. It will be the perfect combination to have those two work together towards taking Indian cricket forward. Nothing like having former cricketers coming on board to help produce the next generation of stars," the BCCI source had said.

Commenting on his appointment as head coach, Dravid has already mentioned how he is looking forward to building on the base that has been created by current coach Ravi Shastri.

"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.

"Having worked closely with most of the boys either at NCA, U-19, 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 said.

India opener Rohit Sharma and R Ashwin have also gone ahead and spoken highly about Dravid and said they are looking forward to working with the former India skipper.