'If something exciting comes up' - Rahul Dravid open on new coaching roles amid ETPL ownership

Former India batter and head coach Rahul Dravid is open to new coaching roles in the future despite co-owning the Dublin Guardians in the inaugural season of the European T20 Premier League (ETPL), where former spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is the captain.

Despite his duties off the field, Dravid is still prepared to take up the role of a coach should the right opportunity arise. However, he does not diminish his role as the owner of Dublin Guardians and is excited and committed to it. Due to the short nature of the brand-new franchise tournament, the former player-turned-coach will have ample time on his plate to get his hands dirty in a coaching setup.

"This league is only a month in the year so I think that was the exciting part of it, to try and do something different for a month. Of course there's going to be time before and after that where I'm going to have to give a little bit of my time and energy to ETPL, and I'm committed towards that. But it also frees up a lot of the year for me and I definitely will be... if something exciting comes up on the coaching side of things, or any other side of things, we'll take it as it goes," Rahul Dravid told BBC Sport.

Dravid's last stint in a coaching role involved him taking charge of the Rajasthan Royals during the 2025 Indian Premier League, where they finished ninth in the standings. Before that, he famously took India to the 2024 T20 World Cup title in the Caribbean, beating South Africa in the final.

Dravid in line to join as England's next Test head coach

At the time of writing, the only prominent coaching job available to Dravid is that of England's Test side after Brendon McCullum stepped down from his red-ball duties. The former Indian captain is reportedly amongst the shortlist to replace the New Zealander ahead of the Three Lions' Test series against Pakistan in mid-August. However, should he take the role, the three-match series will coincide with the 2026 ETPL, which will be running between August 26 and September 20.