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Rahul Dravid has not only excelled as a cricketer but has also proven to be a highly effective coach for the Indian cricket team. His adept man-management skills were on full display during his tenure, guiding the Men in Blue to three ICC tournament finals within a year.
Ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 final, Dravid presented a concise two-slide presentation to the team, which played a crucial role in reshaping their approach for the decisive match. Suryakumar Yadav recently unveiled the details of this impactful presentation.
In a revealing chat with The Indian Express following the final, Suryakumar Yadav unveiled the content of Rahul Dravid’s two-slide presentation. One slide showcased the T20 statistics of every player on the team, spanning from seasoned campaigners like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who have collectively played 284 T20Is, to the youngest member Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has featured in 17 T20Is.
The second slide depicted Rahul Dravid himself, alongside batting coach Vikram Rathour, bowling coach Paras Mhambrey, and fielding coach T Dilip. Remarkably, this quartet has collectively played only one T20I, which happened to be Dravid’s sole appearance in the format.
“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 that the entire coaching staff, including Rahul bhai, had played — that number was 1,” Suryakumar said.
Rahul Dravid made his solitary T20I appearance against England in Manchester, scoring 31 runs off 21 deliveries. Despite his efforts, India ended up losing the match by 6 wickets. Following this game, Dravid announced his retirement from T20I cricket.
“Our mind has to be where our feet are” – Suryakumar Yadav on India’s motto
As per Suryakumar Yadav, Dravid’s intention was to underscore the team’s extensive experience in T20 cricket, emphasizing that each player understands their role and responsibilities in any given match situation.
“He (Dravid) said to us, ‘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’,” Suryakumar said.
Suryakumar disclosed that the team’s objective was straightforward: they aimed to stay focused on the present moment without overthinking or looking too far ahead.
“Before the start, we decided that we won’t talk about what lies ahead in the tournament. Nobody thought about Super 8 and the same was true for the finals in Barbados,” the 33-year-old said.
India clinched their first ICC tournament victory in 11 years with their second T20 World Cup title after a gap of 17 years. Their initial triumph came in the inaugural 2007 edition under the captaincy of MS Dhoni.
