Dravid to coach Indian team in Sri Lanka next month

Former India skipper and current National Cricket Academy (NCA) head Rahul Dravid will coach the Indian limited-overs team during their tour of Sri Lanka next month.

India will play three ODIs and as many T20Is in Sri Lanka in July.

This will be Dravid's second stint with the Indian team after working with the boys as batting consultant during the England tour in 2014. He will be in charge of the second-string team since the Virat Kohli-lead Indian team will be in UK to play in the ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand and the five-Test series against hosts England from August.

"The Team India coaching staff will be in the UK and it is best that the young team is guided by Dravid as he has already worked with almost all of the India 'A' boys. The comfort the youngsters share with him will be an added advantage," a BCCI official told ANI.

Before taking over as the head of NCA in 2019, Dravid had worked closely with the current crop of youngsters in the Indian team at the Under-19 level and for India 'A'.

He is credited to have played an integral role in building a solid bench strength for the Indian team over the last couple of years, having coached the India Under-19 and the India 'A' teams.

The three ODIs in Sri Lanka will be played on July 13, 16 and 19 with the T20Is to follow on July 22, 24 and 27.