Dravid's tenure as India head coach ended with the T20 World Cup 2024 triumph.
However, Dravid’s coaching tenure ended with an ICC trophy as Rohit Sharma and his men clinched the T20 World Cup 2024 title in the Caribbean in June.
While many feel that not winning the WTC and ODI World Cup finals was the biggest setback, Dravid himself thinks otherwise.
During a recent interview with Star Sports, Dravid picked the series loss against South Africa in 2021–22 as the lowest point of his India head coach stint.
According to him, India had a great chance to win the first-ever Test series on South Africa soil at that time, but despite going 1-0 up, they lost the next two matches.
“If you ask me what is the lowest point, I would say the South Africa Test series early on in my career. We won the first Test match in South Africa in Centurion, and then we were playing in the second and third Test match. We have never won a series in South Africa, as you know. It was a really big opportunity for us to win that series. Some of our senior players were not there. Rohit Sharma was injured, and we didn’t have some senior players in that series. But we were very close, and in both the Test matches—the second and the third test matches—in the third inning, we had a big opportunity. We could have set a decent score and won the game, but South Africa played well. They chased back in the fourth inning. So I would say that that was probably my lowest point in my coaching of not being able to win that series in spite of being ahead," Dravid said.
The 51-year-old further stated that wins and losses are part and parcel of any coach’s career and it is important to realise the same and take it in the strides.
“But there were a lot of learnings from that. You know a lot of those experiences, and you know we learnt a lot from them. We learnt a lot about our team. We learnt a lot about things that we needed to do. So I think as coaches, what is very important is that you will go through ups and downs. What is really important is to maintain that balance and realise that you can’t always win games. Other teams have also come to play; you’re playing against some world-class sides, and you have no right to always win. You have a right to prepare well, you have a right to your processes, you have a right to do the right preparation, pick the right teams, and prepare your team well, but even in spite of that, some days you lose, and you have to learn how to keep a balance and keep lifting your team and keep lifting the morale of your side," he remarked.
After the end of his India coaching stint, rumours are rife that Rahul Dravid is in talks with the IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals to take up the head coach role.