The tenure of Rahul Dravid if it weren’t for the last 8 months, Dravid’s tenure as the coach of the Indian team would have been dismal. It will not be an understatement to state that the last 8 months, saved Dravid’s legacy as a coach. For that, he will have to thank Rohit Sharma as he himself admitted. Overall, the last 3 years, being the coach of the Indian team was sort of a mixed bag. For someone who won series in England and West Indies as the captain, this was a big letdown.
At the end of his first term, I firmly believed that Dravid’s position has become untenable. In 2 years, he did not really have any achievement worth shouting about. On the contrary, there are multiple failures under him. Except for that one series win against Australia, on some questionable pitches, his CV will not make for a good reading. I expected him to resign as soon as the final was lost but he didn’t. I also hoped that the BCCI was not thinking of extending his contract.
“Ro, thank you very much for making that call to me in November and asking [me] to continue,”
“I think it’s been such a privilege and a pleasure to work with each and every one of you, but Ro, also thanks for the time. There is a lot of time we have to chat, we have to discuss, we have to agree, we have to disagree at times, but thank you so very much.”
The various reverses under Dravid
Under Dravid, India won the T20 World Cup, reached the final of the ODI World Cup, defeated England comprehensively and defeated Australia, rather methodically. There were several reverses under him. The failure to win a series in South Africa. Remember, he was the first Indian captain to win a Test in South Africa against a much stronger South African side. When faced with a depleted side, India still couldn’t come out triumphant. This is something that will rankle him. There were other reversals too, mainly the twin T20 World Cups in UAE and Australia which was more of a shellacking. The lone Test loss in England. A win there would have meant a series win after 15 years. India were in a good position going into the final Test which was postponed.
They probably underestimated the power of Bazball and didn’t plan for it as England won in a canter.
A team full of confidence
Ofcourse, I am not placing the entire blame on Dravid for all the losses. One must understand that Ravi Shastri handed over a team with a good bowling lineup and players who did not know the meaning of defeat until the final ball was bowled or final wicket was taken. Shastri was also the coach of the team that won two successive series in Australia, an extraordinary achievement by any standards especially considering the fact that only South Africa has won more than one series in Australia in 25 years. His team was leading in England 2-1 when he decided to step away.
The confidence within the team was unbelievable. Either the players lost steam or the management of Rohit Sharma, Dravid, Kohli and Rahul were unable to inspire to even greater heights. The fact will remain that Dravid was unable to make the next giant leap. He had almost the same players at his disposal that Shastri had. Shastri left a extremely good Test side and a white-ball team with an impressive overall record.
Dravid’s management
Anyway, that was in the past. To his credit, Dravid was protective of the players while in public. He defended them with everything that he could. The players felt comfortable and that could be the main reason Rohit Sharma wanted him to continue for one more year. He embraced change with conviction. When India were outplayed by England in the T20 World Cup, everyone mocked the method that the team employed. Saving wickets and waiting for the final overs.
They were playing the game of the 80s. Dravid and the team management felt the need to change the way they approached white-ball cricket. In this, he had an ally in Rohit Sharma who was more than willing to move away from his natural game. The fresh approach at the top and in the middle paved the way for some imposing totals and belligerent cricket. It all culminated in the 2024 victory.
“Honestly, this is a journey of two years,” he said. “This is not a journey from just this T20 World Cup. When I think about the construction of this team, the kind of skills we wanted, the players we wanted, those discussions started in [November] 2021.
“So it’s two years of work. This is not a work of just this World Cup. I think it culminated in this World Cup. The disappointment in Australia [at the 2022 T20 World Cup] and then the one-day World Cup – there’s so much that has gone into it. This feels like a journey of not just one month, it feels like a journey of two years. What we’ve tried to build, what we have tried to create, it feels like it has all come together here on a beautiful afternoon in Barbados.”
Wrapping up the tenure of Rahul Dravid
I cannot say that Dravid’s tenure was a great success. I would not be honest with myself if I said that. However, I can easily state that he redeemed himself in the last year with few exceptional wins including the T20 World Cup. Has Dravid left a better side for the next coach? Only time will be answer for that.
Other blogs about Dravid
https://icricketcritique.com/rahul-dravid-and-the-magical-innings/
https://icricketcritique.com/rahul-dravids-announcement-is-heart-warming/
https://icricketcritique.com/indian-teams-request-and-dravids-refusal/
https://icricketcritique.com/rahul-dravid-is-still-trusting-rahul/
https://icricketcritique.com/dravid-does-not-always-make-sense/
https://icricketcritique.com/the-game-itself-and-rahul-dravids-position/