3 times Rahul Dravid publicly defended an Indian player
Rahul Dravid is one of India's biggest cricketing legends. He had an illustrious career, spanning 16 years at the highest level. He is part of an elite club of batters with more than 10,000 runs in both Test and ODI cricket.
Dravid was appointed as the head coach of the Indian cricket team in November 2021, taking over from Ravi Shastri. Rohit Sharma was also appointed as India's all-format skipper during his tenure.
Indian players have constantly emphasized how the Dravid-led management has made them feel secure about their position in the playing XI or squad. Veterans such as Kohli, Ashwin, and Karthik have showered praise on Dravid for the environment in the dressing room.
Let's take a look at the three times Rahul Dravid publicly defended an Indian player during his tenure as the coach of the national team.
#1 Arshdeep Singh
Arshdeep Singh has emerged as the best youngster for India during Dravid's limited-overs coaching tenure. The left-arm fast bowler from Punjab has been extremely impactful in T20 cricket. Since his debut in July 2022, he has taken 33 wickets in 22 T20I innings at an average of 19.24 and an economy rate of 8.44 runs per over.
However, the 23-year-old had an off day against Sri Lanka in Pune during the second match of the ongoing series. He conceded 37 runs in 2 overs and bowled 5 no-balls, as India lost a high-scoring thriller by 16 runs.
Rahul Dravid backed Arshdeep Singh in the post-match press conference.
“Nobody wants to bowl wides (no-balls) in any format. Especially in T20s, they can hurt you. We need to be patient with lot of these young kids. There are a lot of youngsters playing in this team, especially our bowling attack," Dravid said.
He also stressed the importance of patience in dealing with a young Indian side.
"They are young kids; they will have games like these at times. We all need to be patient with them and understanding. Of course, they are working hard, and we keep trying to help them, support them technically, and also just create the right environment for them to be able to get the best out of their skills," the Indian coach added.
#2 Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli went through the worst phase of his cricketing career in 2022. After relinquishing the Test captaincy, he failed to score runs in all 3 formats of the game.
The Rohit-Dravid duo always backed the star batter, regardless of the form he was in. Ahead of the 5th Test at Edgbaston, the head coach said that the Delhi batter is an inspiration and his form should not solely be judged on the basis of centuries scored.
That belief seemingly paid off as Kohli had brilliant campaigns in the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup. He also ended his century drought, scoring his maiden T20I hundred against Afghanistan and his 44th ODI hundred against Bangladesh last year.
#3 KL Rahul
KL Rahul failed to make a significant impact across formats in 2022. Although he was recovering from a sports hernia, much was expected from him. He could not deliver for team India on the big stages - the T20 World Cup & Asia Cup.
However, Dravid was very supportive of the Indian vice-captain. After Rahul's disappointing performances in the first three matches of the T20 World Cup, the Indian coach said that "these things" can happen in a volatile format like T20 cricket. He went on to praise the right-handed batter for his all-round quality and excellent back-foot game, something which was required in Australian conditions.
"These things can happen in a T20 game sometimes. It’s been tough – it’s not been that easy for the top order batsmen. This tournament has been pretty challenging. I thought he was superb. Maybe a lot of you were not there but in the practice game against Australia with Mitchell Starc and Patrick Cummins, it was a pretty good attack and I thought he batted superbly that day," he said.