5 most embarrassing defeats for India under Rahul Dravid as coach

Ever since taking up coaching duties from Ravi Shastri after India’s unceremonious exit from the 2021 T20 World Cup, Rahul Dravid has faced backlash from several quarters after India’s woeful run in ICC tournaments continued.

To add to that, India also lost their first home series across formats on Wednesday after Australia won the 3-match series despite losing the first game.

While India have won most of their bilateral series at home since Dravid’s appointment, their away record has been abysmal, having even lost the ODI series against Bangladesh.

With India having the hosting rights for the 2023 World Cup, it’s high time that Dravid gets his act together to ensure the Men in Blue are successful in the showpiece event.

After Dravid’s appointment as the head coach of the Indian team, they have suffered quite a few morale-shattering defeats. With that in mind, let's take a look at India’s 5 most embarrassing defeats under Rahul Dravid.

#1 T20 World Cup 2022 semifinal against England

Alex Hales and Jos Buttler after their thumping victory against India in the semi-final.

India played an impressive brand of cricket during the group stages of the 2022 T20 World Cup. After a nerve-wracking victory against Pakistan, they defeated the Netherlands, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe to go through to the final four. However, they were not aware of what was in store for them on that fateful day.

Riding on the brilliance of Hardik Pandya, India recovered from an early hiccup and eventually posted a competitive score of 168 in their allotted 20 overs.

India's new ball bowlers Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar did an impressive job ahead of the semi-final but on that day, none of the bowlers were spared.

England openers Jos Buttler and Alex Hales literally toyed with the Indian attack and didn’t break a sweat in chasing down the target of 169. They were ruthless in their approach and eventually chased it down inside the 16th over with all 10 wickets in hand.

#2 Final rescheduled Test vs England 2022

Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root shake hands during their match-winning partnership in the 5th Test.

The series was split over a year after the fifth and final Test had to be postponed due to a COVID outbreak in the Indian camp.

The standalone match was rescheduled as part of India’s white-ball tour to England and it was the home team who came out triumphant, eventually levelling the series 2-2.

India posted a commendable first-innings score of 416 on the back of a superlative knock of 146 in just 111 deliveries from Rishabh Pant.

Riding on exceptional spells from Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah, India bowled out England for 284, thus securing a huge 132-run lead.

England were set a massive target of 377 as India looked to be in the driver’s seat. After a hundred-run opening partnership between Alex Lees and Zak Crawley, the hosts lost three quick wickets which pushed them onto the backfoot.

However, the duo of Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow had other ideas. Continuing their Bazball approach, both the batters found the boundary on a consistent basis.

The Indian bowlers had no answers in the face of their onslaught and eventually surrendered meekly, as England went on to chase it down with 7 wickets in hand.

#3 1st ODI against Bangladesh 2022

অবিশ্বাস্য জয়, ইন্ডিয়া কে কাঁদিয়ে দিলো #মিরাজ..
Unbelievable winning moment for #Bangladesh against #India. 1st ODI Mirpur Dhaka.
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#MehidyHasanMiraz #BANvsIND #Bangladesh #india #মিরাজ #মোস্তাফিজ #Mirpur https://t.co/W033GfQ9w1

The Men in Blue were blown away by a Mehidy Hasan Miraz masterclass as Bangladesh secured a 1-0 lead in the 3-match series and eventually went on to seal the series in the 2nd game.

Batting first, India could only muster a below-par score of 186. They would have been bowled out for less than 150 had it not been for an impressive 73 from KL Rahul.

The Indian bowlers, however, roared their way back into the game and had the Bangladeshis on the mat when Mehidy Hasan played an exceptional knock to steer the hosts over the finish line.

He shared an unbeaten stand of 51 runs with Mustafizur Rahman for the final wicket to hand Bangladesh an unlikely victory. While Rahul was the hero with the bat, he proved to be the nemesis with the gloves in hand.

With Bangladesh still a fair distance away from the target, Rahul dropped a sitter and it turned out to be extremely costly.

#4 3rd Test against Australia 2023

Nathan Lyon bagged 8 wickets in the 2nd innings to play a pivotal role in Australia's win.

India were on a high in the recently concluded Border Gavaskar Trophy, having taken an unassailable 2-0 lead.

Australian skipper Pat Cummins had to head home due to his mother’s illness. Steve Smith took charge and it was a completely different Australian unit from the 3rd Test onwards.

On a raging turner in Indore, Australia bowled out India for a paltry 107 after Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat. Matthew Kuhnemann picked up his maiden fifer as India were bundled out rather cheaply.

The Indian bowlers made a good comeback, bowling out Australia for 197 in their first innings but a lead of 88 runs proved to be enough in the end. Nathan Lyon proved his worth and bagged 8 wickets in the 2nd innings to put Australia in a commanding position.

In the end, it turned out to be a straightforward run chase for Australia, winning by 9 wickets. They were troubled early on by Ashwin, but Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head took the counter-attacking approach and sealed the deal for the visitors.

#5 2nd ODI vs Australia 2023

Mitchell Starc is swinging his way through the Indians! He's taken all four wickets! KL Rahul has to go this time.

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India came into the encounter with a 1-0 lead but suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the five-time World Champions. After being put into bat by Steve Smith, the Men in Blue was bundled out for 117 courtesy of an exceptional spell from Mitchell Starc.

The left-arm speedster looked in the zone and finished with a five-wicket haul to play a pivotal role in Australia’s victory.

Starc swung the ball late into India's right-handers and they couldn't handle it. Barring Axar Patel, who scored an unbeaten 29, none of India's batsmen looked comfortable.

Australian openers Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head treated Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami like club-level bowlers, smashing them to all parts of the park.

None of the bowlers were spared as Australia raced to the target in just 11 overs, winning by 10 wickets and levelling the series at 1-1.