The India head coach Rahul Dravid doesn’t trust in the word called ‘redemption’ even after winning the ninth edition of the T20 World Cup, against South Africa at the iconic Kensington Oval, in Bridgetown, Barbados. It was a commendable job from the team to come back with a seven-run victory.
India came into the final with an unbeaten run. They blew away Ireland, Pakistan, and the United States in the group stage of the competition, before getting the better of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Australia in the ‘super eight’ stage of the tournament. They held their nerve even against England in the semifinal.
Under Rahul Dravid, it was the 2007 ODI World Cup where India lost the game against Bangladesh and was knocked out of the competition, and from that point to winning in Barbados, everything felt like sitting sweetly.
‘I wasn’t lucky enough to win a trophy’- Rahul Dravid
It was the last day for Rahul Dravid as the head coach of the Indian team, where he went close in the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-’23, and the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, but lost both the games against Australia.
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The India spinners had a very poor day in the middle in the T20 World Cup final defending 176, as Heinrich Klassen and David Miller decided to nail them for boundaries all around the park, thus making it so tough for them to dry run the flowing. It continued for a long time, and at last, it was Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, and Arshdeep Sing who pulled the game back and carried them over the line.
At the end of the game, Rahul Dravid spoke about his feeling of being part of the coaching position in helping them win the trophy, and ending a 11-year wait for an ICC trophy.
‘I really have felt short of words over the last few hours. I just could not be more proud of this team, the way we had to fight difficult situations.’ The Karnataka-born Rahul Dravid expressed. ‘Even today I think it was a great testimony for the team to lose three wickets in the first six overs, to be in the kind of position we were in, but the boys just kept fighting, they kept believing.
He felt that everything was part of sports, and he tried enough to win a trophy, but perhaps wasn’t lucky enough to lift it.
‘You know, as a player, I was not lucky enough to win a trophy, but I tried my best whenever I played and it happens, it’s part of sport.’ The 51-year-old remarked.
Even after winning the trophy at a place where he had nightmares in 2007, the veteran has yet to accept the whole memory as a redemption.
‘Firstly, there is no redemption. I am not one of those guys who thinks about redemption and those kind of things. There are a lot of other players I know who have not been able to win a trophy.’ Rahul Dravid elaborated. ‘I was lucky to be given the opportunity to coach, and I was lucky that this bunch of boys made it possible for me to be able to win a trophy and celebrate.’
He feels Rohit Sharma will be the person whom he will miss the most when he gets out of his coaching life.
‘I will miss him as a person forget the cricket, forget the captain and everything. I just hope we will still be friends.’ Rahul Dravid sheds light. ‘I think what’s really impressed me in all of these is the kind of person that he is, the kind of respect he has shown me, the kind of care and commitment he has had for the team, the kind of energy, and he has never backed down from it.’
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The veteran painted out how the trophy is the result of two years of hard work, pure planning, refusing to restrict it to playing good and excellent cricket for two to three weeks.
‘This is a journey of (over) two years, this is not a journey of this T20 World Cup, the construction of this team, the kind of skills we wanted, players we wanted, discussions started when I started in September 2021.’ Rahul Dravid concluded. ‘The balance that we wanted in the team, two years of work, this is not just a work of this World Cup, I think it culminated in this World Cup, it has all come together here on a beautiful afternoon in Barbados.’
It will be interesting to see now who replaces Rahul Dravid in the head coach role, as the BCCI is set to announce in the coming two to three weeks.