Former India captain Rahul Dravid is reportedly among the candidates to become the new head coach of the England Test team. This comes after Brendon McCullum was sacked as the England Test team's head coach, meaning that the former New Zealand player will now only be in charge of the England limited-overs sides.
According to a report in The Daily Telegraph, while Rahul Dravid doesn't desire to be a full-time coach, being in charge of just the England Test team will give him more time to be at home. From November 2021 to June 2024, the former Karnataka player was the head coach of the Indian men's cricket team.
Under Dravid's guidance, India reached the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup and also went on to win the T20 World Cup title in 2024.
He then took over as head coach of Rajasthan Royals (RR) ahead of IPL 2025. However, the former champions endured a disappointing season as they finished in ninth place with just eight points. Dravid eventually stepped down as head coach following RR's forgettable season.
Other contenders in the fray
Apart from Dravid, former Zimbabwe cricketer Andy Flower and former England cricketer Richard Dawson are also in the fray to become England's next Test coach.
Andy Flower is currently the head coach of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), who recently won back-to-back IPL titles. However, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are reportedly open to hiring someone who is also in charge of an IPL team.
Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara, ex England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, current Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson and former Australia head coach Justin Langer are also reportedly among the candidates to become the England Test coach.
Brendon McCullum had taken over as England's Test coach in May 2022, and with Ben Stokes as captain, England adopted the "Bazball" approach. Under the Bazball approach, the batters were given complete freedom to hit boundaries early on and maintain incredibly high strike rates.
This resulted in England often prioritising forcing a result rather than grinding out a draw. England played 49 Tests in the Bazball era, winning 27, losing 20 and two matches ending in a draw. However, an Ashes series triumph and winning a Test series in India still eluded England during this period.
The 2023 Ashes series that took place in England ended in a 2-2 draw, with Australia retaining the urn, whereas England suffered a humiliating 1-4 Ashes series loss in the 2025-26 series that took place in Australia.
England had toured India for a five-match Test series in 2024, but the visitors ended up losing the series 1-4.
Most recently, England also lost a three-match Test series against New Zealand 1-2 at home. It was during this series when Ben Stokes announced his retirement from international cricket.
