When Rahul Dravid was appointed Indian men's cricket team head coach after Ravi Shastri’s tenure came to an end in November 2021, there were a lot of expectations from him.
However, Dravid has had more misses than hits in his 21-month stint so far. With him at the helm of affairs, India failed to qualify for the Asia Cup 2022 final, lost the Test series in South Africa, lost to England in the rescheduled fifth Test, bowed out in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2022 and suffered a defeat in the WTC final last month.
With the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 around the corner, many feel that the quadrennial event would define Dravid’s legacy as coach of the senior Indian team.
However, Dravid isn’t losing his sleep over legacies and is rather focusing on the upcoming ODI World Cup, slated to be held in India from October 5 to November 19.
“I’m not into legacies. As a coach I’m looking forward to the World Cup. I just stay in the present, worry about the job I have to do now and not about the future,” Dravid quoted as saying by TOI.
“It is exciting to play a World Cup at home. There is going to be a certain amount of pressure associated with it, but that is something we all expect. But to be able to play a World Cup in front of your home crowd is going to be special for everyone and we hope we have a really good tournament. We are preparing and building up well. Hopefully it is all coming together nicely with someone coming back from injury at the right time. We’ve talked about this tournament for a long time now and it is finally here at our doorsteps,” added the India coach, whose contract will come to an end after the 50-over World Cup.
It’s been a decade since Team India last won an ICC tournament. While many experts have tipped the Rohit Sharma-led side to end the global title drought in home conditions, Dravid pointed out that the home advantage in the sub-continent has reduced over the last 10-12 years.
“There are some really good teams. Home advantage in the sub-continent has gotten reduced to a large extent over the past 10-12 years because overseas players play so much in tournaments like the IPL. You have people coming here for two months (during the IPL) and getting used to the conditions. It is going to be a tight tournament but we are confident.”
(With TOI Inputs)
