Rahul Dravid, who is currently coaching the India U19 side in the U19 World Cup in Bangladesh, opened up about the likely future of the players in an interview. Dravid said that the actual test of the players would commence once the world cup was over. Dravid also opened up about the infamous Mankading incident in the game between West Indies and Zimbabwe. Below are the excerpts from the interview.
Does it make a difference that you, as a coach, haven’t been part of a World-Cup winning side?
I don’t really compare the two things. I believe it is a player’s team not really a coach’s team. I have been a player long enough to know a coach can have only a certain amount of impact on a team. It is really up to the players. It is their World Cup, their performances and theirs to win and lose. We are there to help them as coaches and support them in their journey as cricketers. I don’t really compare the two and I am not trying to win a World Cup because I haven’t won as a player. I think it has no relevance, really.
There is a lot of talent at the Under-19 level, but not many graduate to the senior side. What do you think is the reason for that situation?
It is hard to realise at 18 or 19 which one of these players will make it. The real challenge for them is what happens once they move out of this tournament. They are very, very talented to become the best 15 players in their country at this level. They play against boys of their own age-group. Suddenly from here they have to play against men in the first-class system against international and established Ranji Trophy players. I think it is quite a leap. Sometimes we underestimate how much of a big jump that is from this level to first-class cricket. It takes a bit of time to establish themselves.
Over the last few months we have had 22 players. We have given opportunity to all the players. I believe it is not about these 15 but we have another 15 back home. Just because they can’t play the World Cup, doesn’t mean they can’t go on to play international cricket. I think some of them might just mature a little bit later on. For these 15 players, it is a great journey to be a part of this World Cup and hopefully put in a good performance and win it.
The Mankading dismissal in the West Indies-Zimbabwe game sparked a ‘spirit of cricket’ controversy. What are your views on it? Is the criticism dished out to West Indies justified?
Sometimes you don’t want to confuse the laws of the game and the spirit of the game, there’s a thin line. With regards to the Mankading incident, it was within the laws of the game if you had to look at it purely from the point of view of the laws of the game. But obviously it doesn’t look nice. It doesn’t come across very nicely because people don’t see that happen very often. You can’t blame anybody and I am not going to judge anyone because it was purely within the laws of the game. Having said that, it doesn’t really look nice in a tournament like this. It is a tough one for all concerned.
I guess we have to come up with some kind of solution, like give a warning or something like that. At least if you give a warning, you feel that you have given the opposition team a chance. It is something for the future; I don’t want to judge the West Indies team and that particular player. What he did was within the laws of the game.
Bangladesh have made forward strides in the ODI format in the recent past. What do you make of their continued success and rising stars like Mustafizur Rahman?
Bangladesh have had a terrific last couple of years, especially playing at home and in the shorter format of the game. They are a force to reckon with. In the last couple of years they have been absolutely exceptional. Shakib al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mashrafe Mortaza are really stars at the international stage.
I have not seen enough to comment but people tell me nice things about Mustafizur. I saw one or two boys in the Bangladesh A team in India. Some nice talents like Mahmudullah have done well. The results tell me that the graph is going upwards, especially at home. I think their next challenge is to replicate these performances overseas for Bangladesh cricket.