The former India captain and a legend of the game, Sunil Gavaskar feels that Rahul Dravid deserves India’s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna, whose coaching stint for the national team has ended with the side claiming the second title in the Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, after defeating South Africa in the final of the event, at the Kensington Oval, in Bridgetown, Barbados.
Rahul Dravid played a very vital role in helping the side earn the trophy. The composure he brought in the side, along with the calmness while understanding the process has been a huge plus point for the India coach.
Under him, India fell short during the Men’s ODI World Cup 2023, at home, where they came into the final of the tournament with an unbeaten streak of nine wins, before losing the final against Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Australia.
Sunil Gavaskar has advocated for Bharat Ratna to be given to Rahul Dravid
The same story happened during the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-’23 final at the Kennington Oval in London, against the same opponent, where they couldn’t breach the final line, to fall short of the urn for a second consecutive time.
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Under Rahul Dravid, and the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, India also reached the semifinal of the Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, where their cautious and nervy approach against England at the Adelaide Oval ground saw their dream getting broken.
So, the bottom line says that the former India captain was always doing the right thing, but wasn’t getting the right result until the final of this recently concluded T20 World Cup 2024.
Gavaskar believes that even though the limelight has been on the players which it should have been, there is no denying that all the members of the support staff, including the Karnataka-born were one of the reasons behind the success of the Indian team. During his playing time, Dravid was asked to do the impossible job, and he would have completed it without any question.
There was a time under Sourav Ganguly during the beginning of the 2000s when India was planning to go with an extra batter in the side, and that led them to ask Rahul Dravid to keep wickets. The right-handed batter has done a great job for the young under-19 side and worked as the chairman of the National Cricket Academy (NCA).
‘It would be apt if the Government of India honors him (Rahul Dravid) with the Bharat Ratna, for that’s what he has truly been.’ The former India opener Sunil Gavaskar wrote in his mid-day column. ‘Dravid’s achievements have given joy across all party lines and across caste, creed, and communities and brought untold happiness to the whole country. Surely, that deserves the highest accolade the country can give.’
There was a time when Virat Kohli was struggling towards the start of the Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, as he was looking to play out of his character, as Rahul Dravid came and advised him to focus on his game, and once the final arrived, Kohli showed the importance of him on a big knockout game.
With the end of Rahul Dravid’s stint as the head coach of the Indian side, the selectors are looking for a new coach, and it perhaps could be Gautam Gambhir, as the official announcement is going to be made in the upcoming weeks, for the Sri Lanka white-ball series.