Rahul Dravid, the former head coach of India, stated on Wednesday that the support staff worked hard to maintain the positive “team atmosphere” from the 2023 ODI World Cup to the T20 championship match. This strategy assisted the team in ending a losing streak in ICC competitions.
Before stepping down as head coach in June of this year, Dravid oversaw India’s victory in the T20 World Cup in the Americas.
“Honestly, I didn’t want to do anything different. I think we ran a fantastic campaign in the one-day World Cup, Rohit and the team, everyone involved in that one-day World Cup, we ran a superb campaign,” Dravid said at the Ceat Cricket Rating Awards here.
In Ahmedabad, FoIndia had lost heartbreakingly to Australia in the ODI World Cup final.
“We did everything we needed to do to dominate, win the game we played, and prepare for ten straight games—there was nothing more we could have done in that regard,” Dravid remarked.
The Bengaluru guy claimed that neither he nor the other coaching staff members intended to deviate from the custom of a friendly locker room.
“I did not want to change anything. If you’d asked me and we had a discussion with our support staff, we’d get together with the coaches and say, what do you think we should do differently?”
“The common consensus (among the team) was we need to do exactly what we did. We need to create the same energy, create the same vibe, the same team atmosphere that we had and then just hope that on the day, we’ll have a little bit of luck,” he said.
Even though he didn’t participate in any of the limited-over World Cups in India, he was still able to enjoy all the excitement in his role as head coach.
“To be able to see the excitement and ardor of the supporters while touring this nation. Even though I never participated in a World Cup as a player in India, it was an incredible experience for me as a coach to travel from city to city and simply stroll around to see the significance of this game to the local populace. It was amazing,” he remarked.
Australia was the superior team, according to Dravid, during the ODI World Cup final.
“I thought we ran a phenomenal campaign. We came unstuck in the final and Australia played better cricket than us on the day. They were a better team and congratulations (to them). That can happen in sport and that’s what sport is about,” he said.
