With the end of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, co-hosted by the West Indies and the United States of America (USA), India’s present head-coach Rahul Dravid will end this tenure, which began in November 2021, just after that T20 World Cup in United Arab Emirates (UAE), where he replaced Ravi Shastri.
The veteran will be eyeing to end his coaching period on a high, after ending India’s drought for an ICC trophy for more than a decade, since they won the Champions Trophy in 2013.
Rahul Dravid’s coaching has also been about India’s missed opportunities, as they became the runners-up during last year’s home ODI World Cup, after losing the final to Australia in Ahmedabad, or that nightmare defeat in Adelaide in the semifinal of the last 20-over World Cup against England.
Parthiv Patel points out why Rahul Dravid’s tenure will be remembered
Having said that, India registered two big Test series wins over Australia and England- at home, and made it to their second straight Test Championship final, where they again lost to Australia at the Kennington Oval in London.
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But the coaching period of Rahul Dravid isn’t about only winning trophies, It’s about the transformation of Indian Cricket in many aspects. The new batch came and took centre stage. The likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal opened the batting, and showed his caliber.
The success of young Sarfaraz Khan in the Test side too is a huge achievement along with the wicket-keeper batter Dhruv Jurel, who looked in great shape during the Ranchi Test against England.
The former India wicket-keeper batter, Parthiv Patel highlighted the areas Dravid worked on, for the betterment of Indian Cricket in the future.
‘As a coach, you want to win the trophy, but another factor is what kind of culture you want to imbibe within the team. What kind of cricket do you want to play? And the biggest example of that was India’s attacking style during the World Cup,” the former India wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel mentioned during a discussion with Cricbuzz.
“There were question marks about whether they could, but Team India constantly did it.”
India were excellent throughout the ODI World Cup, before losing the final at the most vital point of the whole tournament.
“One bad day, and India couldn’t win the World Cup. In Tests, they lost the WTC final. But they reached the final under him,” Patel elaborated.
The senior men’s team replicated some many powerful golden moments during the coaching period. Scouting talent and nurturing the young generation so beautifully isn’t everyone’s cup of tea as Parthiv feels Rahul Dravid will end with a very successful couple of years.
“Also look at the new players that came in. Among wicketkeepers, after Rishabh Pant, Dhruv Jurel announced himself. Among pacers, after Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, the likes of Akash Deep and Mukesh Kumar bowled well,” the 39-year-old remarked.
“Even spinners are lined up. Whatever there was to do, Rahul Dravid did it with aplomb.”
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He finished the discussion by saying that it was a huge move to demote Shubman Gill at number three, and in the series they won, Virat Kohli wasn’t their number one batter, and that will give the team confidence in a general way.
“Yashasvi Jaiswal was your leading run-scorer against England, Shubman Gill became your No. 3 batter, which is a big move. In the series which India won; Virat Kohli wasn’t your No. 1 batter,” the Gujrat-born concluded.
“So, there have been plenty of positives for which Rahul Dravid would be remembered,” added the former India wicketkeeper.
Dravid’s biggest challenge in the upcoming days will be when India takes on arch-rival Pakistan on June 09, 2024, at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, in New York.