(IPL Credit)
Rahul Dravid concluded his tenure as head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team on a triumphant note. His final assignment saw India end an 11-year ICC trophy drought by clinching the T20 World Cup title. In the final, held at Kensington Oval in Barbados on June 29, 2024, Rohit Sharma’s team secured a thrilling seven-run victory over South Africa, providing Dravid with a memorable send-off.
Dravid took over the role following India’s disappointing exit from the group stage of the 2021 T20 World Cup. During his two-and-a-half-year tenure, he led the team to several bilateral series victories, though his time was not without its challenges.
During his tenure, India faced several significant losses, including a 10-wicket defeat to England in the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final, a 209-run defeat to Australia in the 2023 World Test Championship final, and a missed opportunity to secure the ODI World Cup despite winning 10 consecutive matches.
Despite these major setbacks, Rahul Dravid, when asked about his lowest moment as head coach in a recent interview, chose to focus on the series loss to South Africa in the 2021–22 season. He reflected on how India had a strong chance to win their first Test series in South Africa but, after taking a 1-0 lead, ultimately lost the next two matches.
“If you ask me what is the lowest point, I would say the South Africa Test series early on in my career. We won the first Test match in South Africa in Centurion, and then we were playing in the second and third Test match. We have never won a series in South Africa, as you know. It was a really big opportunity for us to win that series. Some of our senior players were not there. Rohit Sharma was injured, and we didn’t have some senior players in that series. But we were very close, and in both the Test matches—the second and the third test matches—in the third inning, we had a big opportunity. We could have set a decent score and won the game, but South Africa played well. They chased back in in the fourth inning. So I would say that that was probably my lowest point in my coaching of not being able to win that series in spite of being ahead.”
“But there were a lot of learnings from that. You know a lot of those experiences, and you know we learnt a lot from them. We learnt a lot about our team. We learnt a lot about things that we needed to do. So I think as coaches, what is very important is that you will go through ups and downs. What is really important is to maintain that balance and realise that you can’t always win games. Other teams have also come to play; you’re playing against some world-class sides, and you have no right to always win. You have a right to prepare well, you have a right to your processes, you have a right to do the right preparation, pick the right teams, and prepare your team well, but even in spite of that, some days you lose, and you have to learn how to keep a balance and keep lifting your team and keep lifting the morale of your side,” he added.
