Rahul Dravid on ODI and T20 World Cup Campaign: “Didn’t Want Changes Between Tournaments”
Former Indian cricket team head coach Rahul Dravid has revealed that he did not wish to make any changes for the ODI World Cup 2023 and T20 World Cup 2024 campaigns, as the Indian team had not done anything wrong in the ODI World Cup last year. Therefore, Dravid aims to maintain the same atmosphere for the team in the future.
Indian Team’s Performance in Recent Tournaments
Under Rahul Dravid’s leadership, the Indian team won the T20 World Cup in June this year. The team also performed admirably in last year’s ODI World Cup held in India, reaching the finals. However, in the title match played at the Ahmedabad ground, India faced a defeat against Australia.
No Desire for Change
Speaking at the CEAT Cricket Rating Awards in Mumbai, Rahul Dravid said, “To be honest, I did not want to change anything. I believe we performed brilliantly in the ODI World Cup. The entire team, including captain Rohit Sharma, played exceptionally well. We could not have done more than our preparation, planning, and winning 10 consecutive matches.”
Dravid’s Main Points
I didn’t want to change anything. If you had asked me and we had discussed it with our support staff, we would have met with the coach and asked what we should do differently. The team believed that we should continue doing what we did. We needed to maintain the same energy, environment, and team spirit we had and then hope to be lucky on the day. I think we performed excellently. We lost in the final, and Australia played better cricket on that day. They were a good team, and they deserve congratulations. This can happen in sports.
Captain Rohit Sharma’s Praise for the Coach
Earlier, captain Rohit Sharma credited former head coach Rahul Dravid, selection committee chief Ajit Agarkar, and BCCI Secretary Jay Shah for the successful T20 World Cup 2024 campaign in the Caribbean. He noted that everyone gave him complete freedom without worrying about the outcome, which contributed to their success in winning the T20 World Cup.
India Wins ICC Trophy After 11 Years
The Indian team won the T20 World Cup 2024 trophy by defeating South Africa on June 29, almost two months ago. This victory ended an 11-year drought for ICC trophies. The last ICC trophy win for the Indian team was under MS Dhoni’s captaincy in 2013 when they won the ICC Champions Trophy.
