When Rahul Dravid took over as India’s head coach, he was seen as a ‘crisis man’ by fans and experts, who expected him to bail Team India out of all the off-field controversies and also end the ICC titles drought. However, his tenure as a coach so far has been very disappointing and has invited severe criticism before the upcoming ODI World Cup.
Dravid replaced Ravi Shastri as India’s head coach after a successful stint as the head of cricket at NCA, where he oversaw a successful India U-19 and A tour programme. He was initially hesitant to take on a coaching role with the senior team full of stars, but he was convinced by BCCI officials and he later accepted the job.
As a coach, Dravid had a smooth start as he along with new captain Rohit saw the team win the home series against New Zealand, the West Indies, and Sri Lanka. However, things started going downhill when India lost the three-match Test series in South Africa despite winning the first match. The Dravid-coached team then lost the rescheduled Test against England in Birmingham.
More than the bilateral, where India have mostly dominated over their opponents, fans are more disappointed with India’s loss at the T20 World Cup 2022, Asia Cup 2022 and the WTC Final 2023 under the leadership of Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid.
Why and how Dravid has struggled as a coach so far?
As a player, Dravid always believed in work ethics and was a team man to the core. Whether it was playing as an opener in Tests, donning the wicket-keeping gloves in order to give a better balance to the team, or leading the side during the turmoil — the Karnataka-born cricketer did everything for the team whenever it was required.
And as a coach, he would have expected the same commitment from his players but he hasn’t been able to give them absolute clarity in terms of their role. The 2022 World Cup was a prime example when Dravid and captain Rohit seemed unsure about their team combination during their whole campaign.
Veteran wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik was backed by the team management for the initial games, only for Rishabh Pant to be brought up towards the end, even though he hadn’t been in any kind of form.
With exactly two months to go for the ODI World Cup, things don’t look great for Team India as Dravid along with the selectors are still not sure about their best 15 men. Yes, injuries to key players haven’t helped their cause but they have failed to create dependent back-ups.
During the recently concluded ODIs against West Indies, the Dravid-led management did a lot of experiments to try out certain combinations and give ample batting to potential World Cup contenders. However certain decisions like sending Axar at No 4, playing Ruturaj Gaikwad in one game and batting Sruryakumar Yadav and Sanju Samson at different positions in all three games made no sense.
The decision to rest Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the last two ODIs also didn’t go well with the fans and experts, who believed that both senior pros could have played and experimentation could have been done with the middle order batters in Surya and Samson, who are in line to be picked for the World Cup over the injured Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul.
Another aspect where Dravid has faced criticism is that he has never looked convincing as a tactician. Yes, the captain has a major role in controlling things inside the ground but it’s also the coach’s responsibility to send certain inputs during the play when the game drifts towards the opposition. A recent example was the WTC Final when the Aussie batters were dominating the Indian batters on the opening day, which eventually turned out to be decisive.
Can Dravid finish his stint on a high?
The 50-year-old Dravid is unlikely to get an extension if things don’t go well for India in the upcoming ODI World Cup and he himself might not want to continue given the amount of pressure in the hectic job. However, the former India captain still has a chance to finish things on a high.
The Asia Cup followed by the ODI World Cup are two big challenges that await Dravid in the next two months and they could very well define his legacy as an Indian coach.
India last won an ICC trophy in 2013, when the MS Dhoni-led side won the Champions Trophy in England. If Dravid and Rohit Sharma can end the title drought, they will be remembered for ages.
Dravid himself as a captain has seen how an Indian team full of superstars failed in their disastrous 2007 ODI World Cup. So, he will also like to use this ODI World Cup as an opportunity to prove the point and win that coveted trophy as a coach.
An unsettled squad, injury to key players, and pressure of winning in front of the home crowd make Dravid’s job even more challenging but as it’s often said “if it’s not hard, then it’s probably not worth doing”.
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