It seemed inevitable that Rahul Dravid would ultimately take over as head coach of the senior India Men's Cricket team after leading his country to success in the U-19 World Cup in 2018 and mentoring youngsters like Shubman Gill and Arshdeep Singh. That was the case. Along with the 2024 T20 World Cup, Rahul Dravid's two-and-a-half-year term is coming to a close.
Rahul Dravid has led a formidable Indian squad, much like Ravi Shastri did before him, although he hasn't taken home many ICC titles. But should that determine his long-term influence?
If we go by the stats, Team India led by Rahul Dravid has been the best team in the world. India's team has only lost one Test series, winning five and drawing two, and emerging triumphant in forty-one of the fifty-six ODIs and forty-eight T20Is. India has outperformed all other teams in the world in every format.
India suffered setbacks in 2023 as they lost in the finals of the ODI World Cup and the World Test Championship and these two tournaments remain unusual weak moments in Team India's stellar run under Rahul Dravid.
Post ODI World Cup 2023, Rahul Dravid was slated to leave the position of head coach as his contract was nearing its end, But Dravid recently revealed that it was skipper Rohit Sharma who convinced him to stay as Team India's head coach until T20 World Cup to which he agreed.
Under Rohit Sharma's leadership and Rahul Dravid's coaching, Team India went one step better this time from last year's ODI World Cup and finally ended their ICC title drought after 11 years by clinching their second T20 World Cup title.
The T20 World Cup glory in the Caribbean was seen by many as a form of redemption for Rahul Dravid, who had captained India during their first-round exit in the 2007 ODI World Cup in the same region.
However, Dravid himself dismisses such notions, downplaying his contribution as head coach.
With this victory, The Indian coach signed off in style. If anything, Dravid's era should be celebrated as one of India's finest periods, and not be looked back on with the hurt of lost finals.
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