Before his last day as coach of India, Dravid says teams know how to move on from losses.
BRIDGETOWN (BARBADOS): There is no easy way for either Indian or South African sides before the finals. As per their ICC trophy collection, we have nothing to showcase other than an ICC Knockout Trophy in 1998 that few remember today. However, the recent history of India’s failures during crucial moments is well-known. Notwithstanding this fact, Rahul Dravid stresses that there will be no hangovers from previous encounters between these teams and they will meet as two fresh sides.
“I don’t think teams carry the baggage of the past and know to move on from things. I am sure they have moved on too just like we did since our defeat in Ahmedabad (against Australia in 2023). We understand as players that any team which makes it to a final must be good enough to win it just like us. We’ll play our best cricket tomorrow and may be lucky,” Dravid said immediately after India had won a marvelous semifinal against England.
However much he wants to forget about it, talks about India’s WTC Final loss and ODI WC Final come up time again. Asked whether India will manage to cross the line this time, Dravid smiled.
“I wish we are. It’s great that we’ve been steady. Last year we were number one in all three formats and had a lot of consistency. If everything goes well and we keep getting lucky, we should make it.”
There’s an aspect of mental training and coping with match-flight-game fatigue as well. There is no time, at least not on the nets side for improvement because Friday was more about recuperating.
“There won’t be any practice before the final in terms of preparation. We need to stay sharp physically, mentally and tactically. And also being in the right frame of mind is as important,” said Dravid.
India must have a slight edge heading into the final since they had already played in Barbados, against Afghanistan in the Super 8s. Significantly, they had two punishing practice sessions which gave them an idea of what to expect from the pitch.
“It’s nice that we’ve been there before but it does not necessarily mean that we will get same kind of wicket. What we’ve done very well as a group is adapt and understand how to go about things. We played totally different cricket in St Lucia than we did in Guyana, where anything above 150 runs was good enough. Be ready and just do it,” he said matter-of-factly while speaking to Dravid.