Team India head coach Rahul Dravid has played down the allegation of the Indian batters playing with fear at the biggest stage of the tournament against Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium. The Men In Blue has suffered a shocking six-wicket against the Pat Cummins-led side after dominating the tournament.
While Pat Cummins won the toss and boldly chose to bowl first, Rohit Sharma declared that he would have been happy to bat. The Men in Blue failed to reach a respectable in the 50 overs despite Rohit Sharma’s explosive start and audacious approach into the final but KL Rahul and Virat Kohli slowed down their approach in the game, as they failed to post a match-winning total on Ahmedabad.
Speaking at the post-match conference, Rahul Dravid denied the claims about India playing with fear in the finals of the marquee event and cited the example of India’s strong start in the powerplay against Australia, and stated that the team needs to rethink its tactics after a quick wicket fall, which hasn’t worked for the team in big situations.
“I won’t agree that we played with fear in this tournament. We scored 80 runs in the first 10 overs in the final. We lost wickets, when you lose wickets, you have to change your strategy and tactics, at times. But, we have shown in the whole tournament”.
“Even in the game against England, after we lost a few early wickets, we played in a different way. We start on the front foot but you have to take a backward step at times. Even in this final, we didn’t play with fear,” Rahul Dravid said.
With Rohit Sharma scoring 47 runs off just 31 balls, the team was once again up for a strong Australian team in the powerplay to first lit up the Narendra Modi Stadium. With four boundaries and three sixes in an aggressive innings, he made it clear that he intended to dominate the Australian bowlers right away but the middle-order batters failed to contribute to the team on the bigger stage.
It Is Tough To See The Emotion As Coach In That Dressing Room – Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid hailed Indian skipper Rohit Sharma for his brilliant captaincy skills and for giving his everything to the team’s success and expressed his satisfaction with the team’s performance over the past few months and said that he is confident that the team will bounce back from this setback and play well.
“Rohit has been an exceptional leader, always committed to planning, and gave personal time and energy to this campaign. Obviously, there is disappointment, but this team has given me a lot of joy in the past couple of months. Of course, Rohit and the team is disappointed, and it is tough to see the emotion as coach in that dressing room. But the sun will come up tomorrow, and as sportsmen, we move on,” Rahul Dravid added.
India’s remarkable journey came to an end on Sunday when the Men in Blue lost the 2023 ODI World Cup final. A few players, including captain Rohit Sharma, were so heartbroken by the loss that they were seen sobbing in after the heartbreaking loss.
