Former captain Rahul Dravid was appointed as India head coach on Wednesday, replacing Ravi Shastri.

The 48-year-old will take charge of the national team from the upcoming home series against New Zealand later this month.

“Rahul has had an illustrious playing career and is one of the greats of the game … I am hopeful that his new stint will take Indian cricket to new heights,” said BCCI president Sourav Ganguly.

Shastri’s departure at the end of the ongoing T20 World Cup – at which India’s hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals are far from certain – had already been announced.

As a batter, Dravid was famous for his classical style and rock-solid defence, earning the nickname ‘Mr Dependable’.

He scored 13,288 runs in 164 Tests, second only to the legendary Sachin Tendulkar for India and fourth overall.

Dravid, formerly head coach of India A and the U19s, called his appointment “an absolute honour”.

“Having worked closely with most of the boys either at NCA, U19 and India A set-up, I know they have the passion and desire to improve every day,” he said.

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Under Shastri, who took over in July 2017, India won all their seven Test series at home and are ranked No 2 behind New Zealand.

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 made it to the final of the inaugural World Test Championship in England, but lost to New Zealand.

© Agence France-Presse