Rahul Dravid needs to get his Indian players together and form a strategy to win the T20 World Cup said legendary West Indies batter Brian Lara.
Rahul Dravid’s stint as head coach of the Indian side is slated to end in June, following the 2024 T20 World Cup. Dravid’s success with the U-19 and India A teams positioned him as a potential replacement for Ravi Shastri in 2022. However, he has yet to lead the senior national team to an ICC trophy.
But come the T20 World Cup 2024, which begins on June 1, he will have one final chance to end India’s long-standing trophy drought and leave his tenure on a positive note.
This will be India’s second T20 World Cup under Dravid as head coach. In 2022, the Rohit Sharma-led team advanced to the semi-finals before losing to eventual champions England.
India has only won one title in the history of this T20 event, in its initial year (2007), under MS Dhoni’s leadership. In the subsequent seven editions, India advanced to the semi-finals twice and finished second once.
India’s T20 World Cup campaign will begin on June 5 against Ireland at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, followed by a mouth-watering showdown with arch-rivals Pakistan on June 9.
Big superstars don’t matter, you need a plan to win finals: Brian Lara’s warning to Indian team
Ahead of the big competition, former West Indies batsman Brian Lara conveyed a clear message to Dravid, advising him to prepare a strategy for the latter stages.
Speaking to Star Sports, the Windies veteran believes that regardless of the big names in India’s lineup, they must focus on developing a clear strategy for winning the World Cup.
“Indian team, just looking from the outside, in previous Cups, be it T20 or 50-overs, I just feel they are lacking that final plan in terms of how they are going to go about. It doesn’t matter how many superstars you have; it matters how you are going to go about winning this World Cup, what plans you are going to have in place, and how you are going to structure your innings or attack. I hope Rahul Dravid can get his players together and can devise a plan for India to win the T20 World Cup,” said Lara.
India will also play a warm-up game against Bangladesh on June 1 in New York.