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Batting legend Rahul Dravid had a memorable stint as the head coach of the Indian men's cricket team. A journey, that began in November 2021 when he was officially appointed to the top job, ended on a high as he guided the Men to Blue to glory in the 2024 T20 World Cup held in the West Indies and the United States.
With Dravid as coach and Rohit Sharma, India reached the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup in India. They were unbeaten in the tournament heading into the summit clash but went down to Australia in the all-important final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Earlier, Team India had also dominated the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC). They made the finals for the second time in a row, but finished runners-up, going down to Australia at The Oval. Dravid, however, got a fitting farewell as India won the 2024 T20 World Cup by defeating South Africa in a close final.
While his stint as head coach came to an end after India's memorable triumph in the 2024 T20 World Cup, Dravid has reflected on the highs and lows of his tenure in several recent interactions. In this feature, we take a look at three of his top comments after leaving India men's head coach job.
#1 "Just because a lot of Indian cricketers are superstars, people sometimes think they have big egos"
In one of his interviews, Dravid clarified that claims about Indian cricket superstars having big egos are a misconception. According to him, the reality is quite the contrary. In an interview with Star Sports, he termed India's cricketers as being rather humble.
"Just because a lot of Indian cricketers are superstars, people sometimes think they have big egos and they are difficult to manage. But I think it is the opposite. I think these superstars are humble about their preparation, work ethic and that's why they are superstars. I mean you're seeing it in Ashwin today. Even in this age, he is willing to adapt, he is willing to learn. This is just one example," the Indian legend was quoted as saying.
While Dravid won a lot of plaudits for the way he managed the Indian team during his tenure, the man himself refused to take too much credit for the team's success, stating that the team is driven by the senior players, led by the captains.
#2 Rahul Dravid's candid admission on the lowest point of his stint as India's head coach
While India won a lot of games under the Dravid-Rohit coach-captain combo, they also had their fair share of disappointments. Apart from the 2023 ODI World Cup and WTC losses, they also suffered a 10-wicket hammering against England in the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal in Adelaide.
For Dravid, though, failing to win a Test series in South Africa after going 1-0 up in a three-match series in 2021-22 was the disappointment of his stint with the Indian team. In a video posted on ESPNcricinfo, he candidly admitted:
“If you ask me what is the lowest point, I would say the South Africa Test series early on in my career. We won the first Test match in South Africa in Centurion, and then we were playing in the second and third Test match. We have never won a series in South Africa, as you know.
"It was a really big opportunity for us to win that series. Some of our senior players were not there. Rohit Sharma was injured, and we didn’t have some senior players in that series. But we were very close, and in both the Test matches—the second and the third test matches—in the third inning, we had a big opportunity. We could have set a decent score and won the game, but South Africa played well," the 51-year-old added.
Team India won the first Test against South Africa in Centurion by 113 runs, but lost the next two matches in Johannesburg and Cape Town by identical margins of seven wickets.
#3 "I did not want to change anything" - Dravid reflects on Team India's last two World Cup campaigns
While India lost the 2023 ODI World Cup final to Australia, they had been the best team in the 50-over competition until then, by some distance. And so, when it came to the 2024 T20 World Cup, Dravid did not want to change anything about preparations or mindset.
At the CEAT Cricket Rating Awards, where he won the Lifetime Achievement Award, the former India head coach reflected on India's last two World Cup campaigns and explained how the journey was one of continuity despite the difference in formats.
"Honestly, I didn’t want to do anything different. I think we ran a fantastic campaign in the one-day World Cup, Rohit and the team, everyone involved in that one-day World Cup, we ran a superb campaign. There’s nothing we could have done more in terms of our preparation, the planning, the execution of what we needed to do for 10 games in a row to dominate, to win the game we did, play the game we did," Dravid said about India's 2023 World Cup performance.
"I did not want to change anything. If you’d asked me and we had a discussion with our support staff, we’d get together with the coaches and say, what do you think we should do differently?” “The common consensus (among the team) was we need to do exactly what we did. We need to create the same energy, create the same vibe, the same team atmosphere that we had and then just hope that on the day, we’ll have a little bit of luck," the Indian legend added.
India batted first in the 2024 T20 World Cup final against South Africa and put up 176-7 on the board. The Proteas came close in the chase but were held to 169-8.
