"I believe the team is driven by the senior players"- Rahul Dravid doesn't want credit for dressing room atmosphere
Former Indian head coach Rahul Dravid believes that a lot of the credit for maintaining a positive and healthy dressing room atmosphere goes to the senior players in the Indian team. Dravid ended his coaching tenure with the 2024 T20 World Cup triumph as India beat South Africa in a thrilling final by seven runs on June 29.
Dravid opened up on his experience of working with captain Rohit Sharma and shed light on how impactful the latter was as a leader during his tenure. Dravid feels he's not entirely responsible for creating a good team culture.
Speaking to Star Sports, here's what Rahul Dravid said:
"I think I can't completely take the credit for that. I believe the team is driven by the senior players, led by the captains. It was a privilege to work with Rohit. In these two and a half years, I think he was a fantastic leader. People really gravitated towards him and I think that makes a big difference."
Indian superstars are humble: Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid said it is a misconception that several Indian superstar cricketers have ego problems and that they are tough to manage. He claimed that the big names are humble about how they go about their match preparation. Apart from Rohit Sharma, Dravid named other senior players like Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli, and Ravichandran Ashwin who drove a great team environment.
"Just because a lot of Indian cricketers are superstars, people sometimes think they have big egos and they are difficult to manage. But I think it is the opposite. I think these superstars are humble about their preparation, work ethic and that's why they are superstars. I mean you're seeing it in Ashwin today. Even in this age, he is willing to adapt, he is willing to learn. This is just one example," Dravid said.
Dravid said the only thing he needed to manage was the workload of the players. He thanked his coaching staff for always helping him in making that happen.