With Ravi Shastri at the forefront for the past four years, India has achieved fantastic achievements, but that period came to an end earlier this month with his resignation from the Indian Cricket Team Coach’s post. People are already comparing how different the two tenures would be now that he has been replaced by another veteran of the game, Rahul Dravid.
It’s too early to say how successful the Indian side will be under Dravid’s leadership in cricket, but one thing is certain, unlike his predecessor, the new coach will be more modest in his attitude. Whether the team wins or loses, he will continue to act in the same manner.
Many feel that, unlike Shastri, who used to make big and exaggerated claims like proclaiming his squad the best cricket team of all time, the new coach will avoid making such claims and instead leave it to the fans and experts to decide.
Many may argue that Shastri did nothing wrong when he brags about his squad, but former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir believes it is not a coach’s role to do so and has called it his worst flaw.
Gambhir told to Times Now Navbharat,
“The one thing I found surprising is that when you play well, you don’t usually boast about it. It’s fine if others talk about it; when we won the 2011 World Cup, no one gave statements saying that this team is the best in the world, let alone country.”
According to Gambhir, Dravid’s remarks will always be balanced, even if the team wins amazing achievements. He’s not going to make any major claims about the players or their performances.
He further said,
“When you win, let others talk about it. You won in Australia, that’s a big achievement no doubt. You won in England, performed well, no doubt. But let others praise you. You won’t hear such statements from Rahul Dravid. Whether India plays good or bad, his statements will always remain balanced. Moreover, it will reflect on other players.
Humility is very important, whether you play good or bad. Cricket won’t go on forever. I think Dravid’s major focus will be on players being good people first.”
Dravid proved that he is different from others
After viewing the results of the New Zealand T20I series, whatever Gambhir claimed about Dravid turned out to be true. Dravid might have showered accolades on his players and bragged about how they were able to put the T20 World Cup heartbreak behind them and operate as a cohesive unit after India trounced the touring squad and accomplished a clean sweep, but he didn’t.
He advised the players to “keep our feet on the ground” and be “realistic about this win” while adding that it was fantastic to start his term with a series win.
At the post-match presentation, Dravid said,
“It was a really good series win. Everyone played really well right through the series. It feels good, nice to start well. We are also quite realistic. We have to keep our feet on the ground and be a bit realistic about this win.”
By praising Kiwis, Dravid proved that he is a pure gem
The way he praised the opponents for showing up for the series despite the short time between the first T20I and the final of the T20 World Cup. He also mentioned how difficult it would have been for the Kiwis to play the series so soon after their World Cup disappointment. He said,
“Not easy for NZ to play a World Cup final and then to turn up three days later and play three games in six days, was never going to be easy for them. It was nice from our perspective but we have to learn from this series and move forward. It’s a long journey ahead over the next two years and we’ll have our share of ups and downs.”
India became one of the best Test sides in the world under Shastri, although it never won an ICC trophy. On the other hand, Dravid will have many opportunities to make an impact on the Indian squad over the next two years, with three big ICC events scheduled, including the new WTC 2021-23 cycle.
Some things can never be changed..
How much I’ve missed this stance!❤️#RahulDravid pic.twitter.com/CezeBCnO4F
— Rahul Kumar (@rahulk_10_19) November 18, 2021
Let’s hope that in the following two years, we’ll hear some positive news from the cricket world and that our squad will be able to bring some championship titles home!