Former Indian head coach, Ravi Shastri has come in support of his successor Rahul Dravid, saying that the current Indian coach should be given more time before judgment is passed on his stint. When Rahul Dravid took over the role in November 2021, it was expected that the Men in Blue would end their ICC trophy drought as well as win other multi-nation tournaments and wins in the away series. However, the results in the first 16 months have been disappointing.
India not only lost the Test and ODI series in South Africa, but also the rescheduled fifth Test against England at Edgbaston. Dravid has big shoes to fill after succeeding Ravi Shastri, particularly in international competition. The team won two-Test series in Australia, one in Sri Lanka, and one in the West Indies.
ALSO READ: Brett Lee wants to see the inclusion of Umran Malik in the playing XI
Talking about Dravid, during a an interview with Sports Tak, Ravi Shastri said, “It takes time. It took me time and it’s going to take him time too. But Rahul has an advantage that he was at the NCA, he was with the A team as well and now he’s here too. He is experienced with contemporary cricketer players and with the system. Give him time.”
People in India, according to Shastri, only care about winning trophies until they don’t. He backed up his point by citing India’s Asia Cup victories in 2016 and 2018 under his leadership.
Ravi Shastri explained, “In our country, public memory is short. If you have to win, you have to win. During my tenure, we won two Asia Cups, but no one remembers. Has anyone mentioned the Asia Cup? We’ve won it twice. And no one talks about it. But when we lose in the Asia Cup, then the tournament comes into the picture. Why?”
Dravid’s contract will be expiring after the 2023 ODI World Cup, with the chances of extension only if India performs well in this tournament in their own backyard. In the interview, Shastri also stated that the Indian team’s primary focus should be on playing more matches of the same format, depending on the format of the World Cup that year.
ALSO READ: Shanker Basu Asked Virat Kohli To Train Like An Olympic Athlete
Talking about the preparations, Ravi Shastri said, “For all you know, India might be playing a Test series somewhere but a T20 tournament is going on somewhere else with an Indian team. You have to see what is important in that year and accordingly get the players to primarily focus on playing those games. So, if there’s a World Cup of 50-over cricket coming, emphasis should be on the 50-over format. If it’s a T20 World Cup year, emphasis should be on that format and you have to decide who your nucleus of 15-18 players are and they should be playing.”
