The Indian cricket team is one step away from becoming world champion for the third time in ODI cricket. The population of 140 crores wants the day of 19 November 2023 should be inscribed in golden letters in the history of Men in Blue, like 25 June 1983 and 2 April 2011. Not like March 23, 2003, in which Australia had broken the dream by defeating Australia. The last 20 years tell the story of how far India has come in cricket.
In 2003, the Indian team reached the finals after 20 years. There were 5 ODI World Cups from 1983 to 2003. The team is ready to play the title match for the third time in the last 20 years. The ODI World Cup has been held 6 times in this decade. The hearts of the Indian team and its fans were very sad due to the defeat in the 2003 final, but the 2007 World Cup was like a nightmare.
Kabir Khan of Team India i.e. Coach Rahul Dravid
If the World Cup Final is to be held against Australia, everyone will remember the 2003 World Cup final. Everyone is talking about revenge against the kangaroos. Meanwhile, there is a person present in the Indian dressing room, who was among the 15 players who suffered this heartbreak. This person is none other than Team India’s Kabir Khan i.e. coach Rahul Dravid.
Was not part of the team in 2011
Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, and Zaheer Khan were among the players who were part of Team India that finished runners-up in 2003 and became champions in 2011, but not Rahul Dravid. It was not that he had retired like Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly.
You won’t find a team man like Dravid
If Indian cricket has reached this stage today, the contribution of a selfless servant like Dravid is very important. There are very few batsmen with technique like him in world cricket, but his biggest quality is that he is a team man. If needed, he will do wicketkeeping for the team and will be ready to bat at any position, but if he becomes the captain and loses, he will become a villain. Will bear this burden without complaint.
Team India out of the group stage in 2007
Team India had gone into the 2007 World Cup as a strong contender. After a stellar performance in 2003, it was expected that they could stop Australia’s Vijay Rath, but they were eliminated in the group stage after losing to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Who would have never thought that Men in Blue would perform so poorly? The anger of the fans was at its peak. Due to this, the return of players from Caribbean soil was delayed.
The entire blame fell on Rahul Dravid Coach
The dressing room of the Indian cricket team was affected by the dispute between Sourav Ganguly and then coach Greg Chappell. This was the reason for the poor performance in 2007, but being the captain, the entire blame fell on Rahul Dravid. Rahul Dravid was described as a yes man, who allowed coach Greg Chappell to do whatever he wanted. Dravid’s captaincy did not go away immediately, but he did not remain captain for long.
Ready to serve Team India even after retirement
Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the captain and Rahul Dravid gradually got sidelined from the team in limited overs format. Even after playing ODI for the last time in September 2011, he did not play in the 2011 World Cup. Even after retirement, he remained ready to serve Team India. Served in the National Cricket Academy (NCA). Apart from this, as a coach, he prepared a ‘new crop of players’. He has groomed players like Shubhman Gill and Ishan Kishan.
Faced a lot of criticism as a coach
When Rahul Dravid became a member of the senior Team India in 2021, everyone was expecting that he, along with Rohit Sharma, would take Indian cricket to greater heights, but till the Asia Cup 2023, both of them faced only criticism. The team’s performance was such that it was bound to be criticized.
Dravid will not let the emotion of the final (IND vs AUS) result be reflected
Poor performance in the Asia Cup 2021, semi-final in the T20 World Cup 2021, and defeat in the 2023 World Test Championship final have been forgettable moments of his coaching career, but the 2023 Asia Cup and ODI World Cup have been fantastic. Whatever may be the outcome of the final match between India and Australia, Rahul Dravid will not let his emotions show.
Will become world champion not as captain but as coach
If Team India becomes champion, he will be seen on the side, but if it loses, he will be seen answering tough questions like in the WTC final. It will not matter to him that November 19 is his last day as a coach. If Team India wins, Dravid can be seen connecting with the character Kabir Khan from Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan’s film Chak De India. Both became infamous as captains, the coach they won the world title. Both did not get immediate success or acceptance as coaches.
