IND vs NZ 2021: Who are the coaches of the Indian national cricket team?

Rahul Dravid and Paras Mhambrey [Image- The Hindu]

Winds of change are blowing in Indian men's cricket, with former captain and legendary better Rahul Dravid taking over as head coach from Ravi Shastri.

The Shastri-led support staff, which included bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar, ended their hugely successful stint at the culmination of the T20 World Cup 2021.

Dravid was officially appointed head coach earlier this month when India were in the midst of their World Cup campaign. While the BCCI is yet to announce the members of Dravid's support staff, the incumbent batting coach Vikram Rathour is all set to continue in his role.

Rathour, who replaced Sanjay Bangar as batting coach in 2019, was seen in the Indian dugout during the first T20I against New Zealand in Jaipur on Wednesday.

🎥 What does the pitch have in store? 🤔

#TeamIndia Head Coach Rahul Dravid has a close look at the wicket.

#INDvNZ @Paytm https://t.co/cpK86uj51v

Meanwhile, Dravid's trusted lieutenant at NCA and former India U-19, Paras Mhambrey is set to take over from Bharat Arun as the team's bowling coach. Mhambrey was coach of the U-19 team that was beaten by Bangladesh in the World Cup last year.

As far as the new fielding coach is concerned, Rahul Dravid reportedly wanted Abhay Sharma for the role. But the Cricket Advisory Committee comprising Sulakshana Naik and RP Singh opted for T Dilip instead.

Vikram Rathour, Paras Mhambrey, T Dilip set to be India support staff cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/1… via @cricbuzz

Dilip, a Hyderabad-based fielding coach, was part of Dravid's support staff during the Sri Lankan tour in July this year.

Coach Rahul Dravid kickstarts his stint with a victory over New Zealand

Meanwhile, the Dravid era in Indian cricket began on a bright note on Wednesday as India beat New Zealand in the first T20I of a three-match series by five wickets.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/24 in four overs) and veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (2/23 in four overs) led the way for the home side. Nevertheless, brilliant knocks by Martin Guptill (70 off 42 balls) and Mark Chapman (63 off 50 balls) took New Zealand to a competitive total of 164-6.

Performance of Ravi Ashwin since his return into the T20 format for India:

4-0-14-2
4-0-29-1
4-0-20-3
4-0-23-2 https://t.co/5AtbpacbIb

For a better part of 15 overs, it looked like India were in auto-pilot mode during their run chase. Captain Rohit Sharma (48 off 36 balls) and Suryakumar Yadav (62 off 40 balls) dished out dazzling strokeplay.

4⃣8⃣ Runs
3⃣6⃣ Balls
5⃣ Fours
2⃣ Sixes

Captain @ImRo45 narrowly missed out on his fifty but set the ball rolling for #TeamIndia in the chase. 👍 #INDvNZ @Paytm

Watch his fine knock 🎥 🔽

But their dismissals against the run of play, and slow knocks of Rishabh Pant (17 not out off 17) and Shreyas Iyer (5 off 8 balls) meant the game went to the final over.

Venkatesh Iyer smashed the first delivery of his international career for a boundary before playing an ill-fated reverse paddle. However, Pant smashed Mitchell for a four on the fourth delivery to seal India's five-wicket win.