The ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, co-hosted by the West Indies and the United States of America (USA) will be the last assignment for India’s present head coach Rahul Dravid, who will end his two-year-long tenure, to gift the country their second T20 title.
The inaugural champions had terrific preparation during their only warm-up game against Bangladesh on June 01, at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, in New York, where they blew away the neighbouring country without much sweat.
Batting first, the Rahul Dravid-coached Indian team put on 182/5 in their allotted 20 overs, with the help of the unbeaten half-century from Rishabh Pant, while all-rounder Hardik Pandya too smashed an unbeaten 23-ball 40-runs, which has been a huge positive for the ‘Blue Brigade.’
Even in the bowling department, the first bowlers were quite impressive with their consistent line and lengths, as the left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh ended with two wickets in the powerplay. Hardik too bowled for figures of 1/31 in three overs, as the India captain used Shivam Dube’s bowling during the middle phase.
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‘In this format, you can’t take anyone lightly’ – Rahul Dravid
The India head coach Rahul Dravid is doing everything possible in their last-minute preparation, before the opening fixture against Ireland on June 05, in New York. The biggest match in the tournament’s first stage for India will be against arch-rival Pakistan on June 09.
However, Dravid has emphasised approaching their first game against Ireland with the same intensity as they take on Australia and Pakistan or any top-ranked team. The veteran understands the value of how unpredictable this shortest 20-over format could be against any opposition on any given day.
Ireland is coming into the competition on the back of their opening victory against Pakistan at home, in a three-match T20I series.
“We are preparing for this match in a similar way as we are preparing for Pakistan and Australia. There will be no shortage in our preparation. We know that they recently defeated Pakistan. We know that Ireland plays a lot of T20 cricket,” the present India head coach Rahul Dravid showed his respect towards the opponents during the pre-match press conference.
“In this format, you can’t take anyone lightly or with a look. We will definitely not take them lightly.”
The Indian team will be playing their first three games, including the encounter against USA at the same ground in New York, before moving to Florida for their last game against Canada. If they qualify for the second round of the game, the Indian team will be needed to travel to the West Indies to take part in the ‘Super eight’ stage of the competition.
The 51-year-old talked about showing no excuses towards the travel schedules as all the teams will be following the same for the next rounds, and the Indian team is ready for every single challenges.
“Everyone has the same schedule. Schedules are tight. Calendars are extremely tight. Yes, it’s going to be challenging travelling from one venue to the other in West Indies. But again, no complaints. It’s the same for everyone,” the former India batter expressed during the same presser.
“I mean, it’s not that only India is going to have to travel, play and travel. Every other team is going to also have to play and travel if they go all the way. So fine, we have to deal with it. We have to get on with it, and have to play the best cricket.”
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The Indian team is acknowledged to be the best team of the tournament, but Rahul Dravid was quick to shed light on how the other teams too look well balanced and formidable in the competition.
“When I look across the tournament like this, you see that we are, of course, a strong team. But there are other very strong teams as well in the tournament.’ Rahul Dravid concluded. “So, I am sure there are four or five teams that everyone is probably rating.”
India is looking to end their ICC trophy drought for more than a decade, since winning it during the Champions Trophy in 2013, and Rahul Dravid will look to end his present coaching tenure on a high.