Rahul Dravid, who recently ended his stint as Team India coach after the T20 World Cup 2024 triumph, reportedly requested BCCI to reduce his prize money of INR 5 crore to 2.5 crore as an equal bonus for the rest of the coaching staff.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) awarded a cash prize of a whopping INR 125 crore for Team India, which is 6 times more than what the T20 World Cup 2024 got from the ICC and even more than the tournament's total prize pool of INR 93.52 crore.
As per the BCCI source confirmed to the Free Press Journal, each of the 15 members in the squad and head coach Rahul Dravid will receive 5 crore, while the rest of the coaching staff, including Vikram Rathour (batting coach), Paras Mhambrey (bowling coach) and T Dilip (fielding coach) will receive 2.5 crore each from a massive cash prize awarded by the BCCI.
As per the report by Hindustan Times, Rahul Dravid urged the BCCI to award him as the cash prize as other coaches who played a huge rule in helping Team India clinch the T20 World Cup title.
"Rahul wanted the same bonus money (₹2.5 crore) as the rest of his support staff (bowling coach Paras Mhambrey, fielding coach T Dilip, and batting coach Vikram Rathore). We respect his sentiments," a BCCI official said.
Apart from the players and coaching staff, The support staff, including physiotherapists, throwdown specialists, masseurs and a strength and conditioning coach will get 2 crore each. The reserve players and selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar will be awarded 1 crore each.
Rahul Dravid did similar gesture when he was U-19 India coach
This is not the first time that Rahul Dravid asked the BCCI to pay him the bonus as equal as other members in the coaching staff. Under the Dravid's guidance, India U-19 team led by Prithvi Shaw clinched the U-19 World Cup in 2018.
Thereafter, BCCI announced a reward of INR 50 lakh for Rahul Dravid and rest of the coaching staff and the players were awarded INR 20 lakh. However, former India captain refused accept the higher amount. Eventually, all the members of the coaching staff, including Rahul Dravid were awarded 25 lakh each.
After his stint with India U-19 team, Rahul Dravid was appointed as the head coach of National Cricket Academy (NCA) head coach before becoming the head coach of Team India. Dravid's contract came to an end after the Men in Blue's ODI World Cup Final defeat against Australia last year but was extended till the T20 World Cup 2024.
