Team India’s head coach Rahul Dravid has said that the players have moved on from the 2023 ODI World Cup final loss and they are looking forward to giving their best in the 2024 T20 World Cup final as well. He also said that they were well prepared for the ODI World Cup final last year but credited Australia for playing better on the day as well. Notably, the Indian team had a terrific run at home in the 2023 ODI World Cup, as they entered the final unbeaten. But lost to Australia by six wickets in the summit clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on November 19.

However, on the eve of the T20 World Cup final, Rahul Dravid was quoted as saying by news agency PTI: “Players are very good at moving on from things, recognizing things. So, we will move on from Ahmedabad. I’m sure they will not be thinking about history. It’ll be a fresh day. Two good teams, two teams I think that everyone will agree will probably be the top two teams in this tournament. So, deserving finals for both the teams. And, hopefully, it’s a great game of cricket. Hopefully, we fall on the right side.”

However, Team India will be playing in their third consecutive ICC final on Saturday as well. They had faced defeats to Australia in the previous two knockout games as well. Dravid, however, said that Team India were well-prepared for the big games, but the opposition
was better.

“I thought we were very well-prepared in Ahmedabad (ODI WC). We ticked all the boxes and, on that day, the other team played better.”That’s part of the sport. The other team that’s coming there to play has also obviously reached the final because they’re a good team and they’re playing very good cricket as well,” the legend explained.

Even as Rahul Dravid downplayed the two big losses to Australia last year, the fact remains the same India have failed to win in ICC knockout games over the last decade.

“It is a good thing we have been consistently playing good cricket. We have been in finals in all three formats and credit goes to the players. If we play well and rub of the green goes (our way), we will surely win. Yeah, I mean, just the fact that we’ve played a game in Barbados is nice. It’s nice that we have that familiarity of having played on that surface in the past. But again, I think it’s very hard to… We’re not going to get exactly the same wicket that we got last time. I mean, it can be different, right?,” Rahul Dravid concluded.