New Delhi: India have started life without Rahul Dravid, who stepped away from the head coach role following the conclusion of the T20 World Cup 2024. The legendary cricketer helped the Men In Blue break the ICC trophy jinx in his final assignment with the national team. Dravid’s tenure was extended after the heartbreaking loss in the 2023 ODI World Cup final in India and the iconic player repaid the faith by delivering the World Cup trophy to the billions of Indian fans.
Now away from the spotlight, Dravid opened up on his rollercoaster tenure with the Indian team, full of ups and downs. In an exclusive chat with Star Sports, Dravid spoke on various topics, including his working relationship with the senior members of the team, including skipper Rohit Sharma. Dravid is credited with managing the senior pros and the young guns of the team with great effect.
Dravid hails Rohit’s impact
However, Dravid doesn’t believe he deserves all the credit and hailed the impact of Rohit’s captaincy.
“Well, I think I can’t completely take all the credit for that. I believe the teams are really led by the group of senior players, led by the captain. So, I think it was a privilege to work with Rohit. In these two and a half years, I think he was a fantastic leader. People really gravitated towards him, and the team. I think that makes a big difference,” Dravid told Star Sports.
‘A lot of these superstars are actually very humble’
Dravid also lauded senior pros like Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and R Ashwin and said that contrary to popular belief that the senior members have big egos and difficult to manage, all of them are humble and easygoing, the trait that makes them superstars.
“There were a lot of other senior players as well, whether it was Virat, Bumrah, or Ashwin in Test cricket that we played. So many of them—just because a lot of Indian cricketers are big names, and they are superstars, and rightly so, and they’re followed by so many people—sometimes people think that they have big egos and that they are very difficult to manage. But actually, I think it’s just the opposite. A lot of these superstars are actually very humble about their preparation. They are humble about their work ethic. And that is why they are superstars,” he added.
India’s first assignment without Dravid proved to be a mixed bag. Under new head coach Gautam Gambhir, India swept the T20I series against Sri Lanka 3-0 but suffered a humiliating 0-2 defeat in the ODI series despite the presence of Rohit and Virat.
Former India coach Rahul Dravid, who is now away from the spotlight, opened up on his rollercoaster tenure with the Indian team, full of ups and downs Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
