Rahul Dravid ended his tenure as the head coach of the Indian cricket team on a triumphant note, securing the T20 World Cup 2024 title. Despite representing India as a player for 16 years and captaining the team during the 2007 World Cup, Dravid had never previously lifted an ICC trophy. Under his leadership in 2007, India was eliminated in the group stages, making this victory especially significant.
Ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 final, Dravid delivered a powerful two-slide presentation that inspired the team and provided them with a renewed mindset. Suryakumar Yadav recounted that Dravid’s presentation highlighted the collective experience of the players. The first slide displayed the cumulative number of T20I games played by both senior and junior members of the team, totalling over 800 matches.
The second slide contrasted this with the T20I experience of the support staff, revealing that Dravid, a former India wicketkeeper-batter, was the only member to have played T20Is for the national team. Suryakumar explained that this was Dravid’s way of emphasizing that the players had far more experience in handling the pressures of the game compared to the coaching staff.
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“He showed a graph of the number of T20I games the entire Indian team had played — from Virat bhai to Yashasvi Jaiswal, the most junior member. That number was 800-plus. And then he showed a second slide that had the number of games the entire coaching staff, including Rahul bhai, had played — that number was 1,” said Suryakumar Yadav as quoted by Hindustan Times.
Total number of T20s played
by the squad: 800+
by the coaches: 1
‘You are the best judge here to make the right call at the right time. So leave every other thing to us, go out there and enjoy your game,’ said Rahul Dravid.#INDvsSA https://t.co/uKGnvLhC8O
— Cricket.com (@weRcricket) July 2, 2024
Rahul Dravid’s message was clear: “You are the best judge here to make the right call at the right time. So leave every other thing to us, go out there and enjoy your game.”
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Appointed as the Head Coach in 2021, Dravid led India to the semifinals of the T20 World Cup 2022, the finals of the World Test Championship in 2023, and the finals of the ODI World Cup 2023. However, his defining moment came on his final day as coach, when India ended an 11-year ICC trophy drought.
The search for Dravid’s successor is underway, with reports suggesting Gautam Gambhir as the leading candidate.
