“It’s for us to do it for him” - Rohit Sharma admits World Cup win will be huge for coach Rahul Dravid
Team India captain Rohit Sharma has hailed coach Rahul Dravid for giving clarity and freedom to players to go out and express themselves. He also admitted that the Indian legend is keen to be part of the big occasion, adding the onus is on players to try and win the World Cup for him as much as for anyone else.
Dravid is regarded as one the greatest batters to have played the game. However, he never won a World Cup as a player. He was part of the Indian team that finished runners-up in the 2003 edition in South Africa. He was captain of the side that endured a disastrous World Cup in the Caribbean in 2007.
Dravid now has a chance to be part of an Indian team’s World Cup win as coach. The Men in Blue will face Australia in the summit clash of the 2023 edition at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
At a press conference ahead of the big final, Rohit acknowledged the huge role that Dravid has played in the team’s success.
"His role has been absolutely massive, getting that clarity, which I keep talking about. There's one thing for me to think about and the other thing if the coach does not agree to certain things. You know, looking at how Rahul bhai has played his cricket and how I'm playing these days. Obviously, it's got quite contrasting. For him to give us that liberty to go and play the way we want to play, says a lot about him," Rohit said.
"The way he stood by the players in difficult times especially during the T20 World Cup, where we had a good run up until that semifinal, where we lost. How he reacted to certain situations and informing the players was helpful. He wants to be part of this big occasion, and it's for us to do it for him," the 36-year-old added in praise of the head coach.
Under the Rohit-Dravid captain-coach combo, India lost the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final to England and the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final to Australia.
“Very happy about the environment created by me & Rahul Bhai” - Rohit Sharma
On his association with Dravid, Rohit asserted that he is very pleased with the kind of team environment that the two have been able to create, adding that players have also responded very well to their endeavor.
"I am very happy about the environment created by me & Rahul Bhai. Players have responded well, without worrying about the outside noise or scores of a particular match,” he said.
Team India have been unbeaten in the 2023 World Cup so far, while Australia are on an eight-match winning spree.