India’s Test batting stalwart Cheteshwar Pujara said that former captai Rahul Dravid is the best choice to be the senior men’s team’s head coach. Dravid is the favourite to succeed Ravi Shastri for the role, with the latter’s contract ending after the T20 World Cup.

Dravid has been credited with making India’s youth system robust through his work with the India A and Under-19 setups. Pujara, who has often been compared to Dravid for his batting style, said that his success as a coach matters as much as his prolific career as a player.

“I followed him and Sachin Tendulkar when I was little. He was such a great batsman himself and he also has been a succesfull coach. He guided the under-19 and India A teams and that experience, alongwith the experience he had as a player, it will be very helpful for the Indian team. You are a different person as a player,” said Pujara on Salaam Cricket 2021.

“When you become a coach you understand what the player wants. How you can take a player forward, what kind of guidance you have to give a player in a certain situation, which players has to be given more freedom, how to handle pressure moments and so on,” he said.

Pujara said that his conversations with Dravid have been more about the mental aspects of batting rather than on technique.

“As far as batting is concerned, I have had a lot of conversations with him about the mental aspect, which he understands really well. All the young players who have come in like Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, they have all interacted with Rahul bhai. I feel that they have got so many good inputs from him. He understands the difference between the generation that he learnt all of this from and the one that is coming up now. So I am sure he is one of the best choices,” said Pujara.