3 things to look forward to in Rahul Dravid's extended tenure as India men's head coach
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday, ended the suspense over Rahul Dravid’s future as Team India’s head coach, handing him a tenure extension. Earlier, there were reports that the Indian legend might not continue in the role.
However, the BCCI has retained both Dravid and the support staff, comprising bowling coach Paras Mhambrey, batting coach Vikram Rathour, and fielding coach T. Dilip.
An official BCCI statement on the big development said that the cricket board engaged in “productive discussions” with Dravid and unanimously agreed to further the tenure. The former India captain’s contract had expired following the conclusion of the 2023 ODI World Cup in India.
Considering that the next ICC event is just a few months away - the 2024 T20 World Cup in June, the BCCI’s decision to extend Dravid and the support staff’s contract makes a lot of sense.
In the wake of the same, we analyze three things to look forward to in Dravid's extended tenure as India men's head coach.
#1 Can Team India cross the ICC barrier?
A new stint for Dravid as coach, but the old question remains - one that existed much before the Indian legend took over the post. Can India break the ICC jinx? Men in Blue fans by now would be fed up with the stat that India have not won an ICC event in any format since the Champions Trophy back in 2013.
Under the Rohit Sharma-Dravid captain-coach combine, India yet again came close to lifting the World Cup. But not for the first time, stumbled at the final hurdle. The hosts were brilliant in the league games, winning all of their nine matches, crushing opponents along the way, and breaking record after record.
The way India dominated the World Cup; it seemed like they were destined to end their ICC drought. But it wasn’t to be as the Men in Blue were a shadow of their best self in the final against an inspired Aussie outfit. And so, Team India and its fans suffered yet another heartbreak.
One of the main reasons behind Dravid being retained as coach is undoubtedly the fact that the next ICC tournament is just some months away. Continuity was thus important for India to build on their gains from Dravid’s first tenure as coach.
As for the million-dollar question regarding India’s jinx, only time will tell whether it will finally be broken under the second tenure of “The Wall”.
#2 Will younger batters take up greater responsibility?
Another key element to look forward to Dravid’s second stint as head coach is how the youngsters take responsibility with the seniors likely to be on their way out soon.
While India’s immediate goal will be lifting the 2024 T20 World Cup and doing well on the tough tour of South Africa before that, the long-term target will be the 2027 ODI World Cup.
India’s batting stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are unlikely to be around when the next ODI World Cup takes place. Rohit is now 36, while Kohli is 35. They might, most probably, walk away from the international scene in the next couple of years. As such, the younger generation of batters need to take greater responsibility from this point itself.
While it would be unfair to say that India are heavily dependent on Kohli and Rohit in the batting department, the World Cup proved how significant the duo is to Team India’s fortunes. In statistical terms, Kohli and Rohit were the top two run-getters in the recently concluded ICC event. But their contribution to the team’s success goes much beyond just numbers.
The time has now come for the likes of Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer to take charge of India’s batting and show greater maturity. They have gained enough experience. The next few months under Dravid as coach could see the transition in the batting department. How smoothly the shift of guard takes place could be a determining factor.
#3 Will Dravid do anything different from his first stint?
If we analyze Dravid’s first stint as India’s coach, it can be safely concluded that it was an impressive one. At the end of the day, though, the team failed to win any big event barring the Asia Cup.
They lost the semi-final of the 2022 T20 World Cup and the final of the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) before faltering in the summit clash of the ODI World Cup earlier this month.
Dravid’s behind-the-scenes tactics and composed approach have mostly paid rich dividends. But just like for the players, his first stint as head coach must have a learning curve for Dravid as well.
There could have been some areas where he might have found himself lacking. Can he fix those and plug the leaks that may have cost the team in crunch moments? We’ll wait and watch.