"Thank you, Rohit, for that phone call in November" - Suryakumar Yadav claims Rahul Dravid wanted to resign after 2023 ODI World Cup final defeat
Indian batter Suryakumar Yadav has claimed that head coach Rahul Dravid would have resigned after the 2023 ODI World Cup final loss to Australia in Ahmedabad. However, Dravid stayed put after captain Rohit Sharma and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah called him to intervene.
Dravid stayed for a few more months and won his first World Cup trophy as Rohit-led India lifted the 2024 T20 World Cup in Barbados on Saturday, June 29. Suryakumar said that after the final, Dravid thanked Rohit for his call.
"In the end, he (Dravid) came and thanked Rohit and said, ‘Thank you, Rohit, for that phone call in November’, because he didn’t want to continue after (India’s loss in the final of) the 50-over World Cup but Rohit and Jay sir (BCCI secretary Jay Shah) convinced him to stay," Suryakumar told The Indian Express.
Suryakumar also spoke about Dravid's creative pre-final presentation, where he motivated the team by helping them believe in themselves.
"He showed a graph of the number of T20 games the entire Indian team had played — from Virat bhai to Yashasvi Jaiswal (the most junior member). That number was 800-plus,” Suryakumar added. “And then he showed a second slide that had the number of games that the entire coaching staff, including Rahul bhai, had played — that number was 1. He said to us, ‘You are the best judge here to make the right call at the right time. So leave every other thing to us, go out there and enjoy your game’.”
India defeated South Africa by seven runs at the Kensington Oval. The match was pretty even till the second innings powerplay, after which the Proteas stepped on the paddle to bring the chase down to 30 off 30. However, India's exemplary death bowling brought them back as they won in the final over.
"I will save that clip for life" - Suryakumar Yadav on Rahul Dravid's celebration
Suryakumar, who took the stunning and important catch of David Miller in the final over, also said that Dravid's viral video of celebrating wildly with the trophy would stay with him forever.
“That 30-second clip, when he took the trophy in his hand and screamed… that moment when he expressed his happiness. I think I will save that clip for life," he said in the same interaction.
Dravid announced before the tournament that this was his last gig. Gautam Gambhir is touted to replace him at the helm.