Looking back at his time as India’s head coach, batting maestro Rahul Dravid summed up the highs and lows of his term with the Indian cricket team.
The Indian cricket board (BCCI) shared a link of a touching video where Dravid reflects on his time with the team, his triumphs and setbacks.
Dravid had left the international game without winning any world cup as a player and under him as a coach, they became No. 1 in Test & ODI while T20 world cup added to this great achievement.
Reflecting upon the role he played in shaping Indian cricket, Dravid says that ‘I like to think that coaching is not just about teaching cricket but about teaching people and making them ready for success in right climate…I feel like I’m working with other people whose duty it is to create an environment that supports success but is also safe and secure. I have always tried to do what I can to make sure we are creating those kind of environments.’
Following India’s title victory at the T20 World Cup, Captain Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from T20Is. Rookie Rohit at 37 years old, was part of India’s famous first ever T20 win against arch-rivals Pakistan in Johannesburg in 2007.
Speaking to various media houses after Kohli retired from international cricket including T20Is recently, Dravid told Parami News that he will miss Kohli more as a person than just skipper or someone who kept accumulating runs and records.
“I’ve really enjoyed working alongside Rohit. He was this little boy when I first knew him; seeing him grow both personally and professionally made me appreciate him even more. Over the past decade or so since he first emerged as a player for us until now when he has become captain of our side how much contribution he has made as well as being himself–this sums up everything about why we value him so highly,” Dravid said in the interview.
Dravid also hailed Virat Kohli who announced his retirement from international cricket including T20Is and he praised him for his professionalism and dedication.
“I’d worked under him just for a couple of series only, initially but as I got to know him better and watched him go about his business, the level of professionalism he has always maintained in his game, an attitude of wanting to get better every time we were together – it’s been mesmerising to me” (Dravid).
According to Dravid, what he will remember from his coaching career is “the professionalism around them, I think that for me is really the fondest thing I’ll have” (Cricket Country). He went on to mention, “I know there have been results, we’ve had some good results and some results have not been that easy, but that’s part and parcel of being a coach and a cricket team.” (Firstpost).
However, the thing I am going to remember always is the bonds I formed with people during my time as a coach. This includes the people I worked with closely either as support staff or in other capacities. The most difficult aspect of this job for me was making friends. When new ones came it took me up to two years before trying any of them.
Some of these players are Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli who were similarly greenhorns back then. To exemplify how they have grown; it has been amazing watching them change from boys to men (Cricket Country). We used to ‘hang out’ together. It has bee an unbelievable experience personally; we talked about everything under the sun.
It is widely reported that Gautam Gambhir, former India batsman would replace Rahul Dravid as coach of Indian team.
