"That was probably my lowest point" - Rahul Dravid reflects on his biggest disappointment during his stint as India coach
Former India head coach Rahul Dravid has termed the 2-1 Test series loss in South Africa in 2021-22 as the lowest point of his stint with the national side as head coach. According to the batting legend, India missed a big chance to win a Test series in South Africa for the first time.
During the 2021-22 tour of South Africa, India came up with an excellent performance in the first Test in Centurion to win the contest by 113 runs. However, they lost the next two matches by margins of seven wickets each in Johannesburg and Cape Town to concede the series 2-1.
In a video posted on ESPNcricinfo, Dravid termed the Test series loss in South Africa as the lowest point during his time as the coach of Team India.
“If you ask me what is the lowest point, I would say the South Africa Test series early on in my career. We won the first Test match in South Africa in Centurion, and then we were playing in the second and third Test match. We have never won a series in South Africa, as you know," the 51-year-old said.
"It was a really big opportunity for us to win that series. Some of our senior players were not there. Rohit Sharma was injured, and we didn’t have some senior players in that series. But we were very close, and in both the Test matches—the second and the third test matches—in the third inning, we had a big opportunity. We could have set a decent score and won the game, but South Africa played well.
"So, I would say that was probably my lowest point in my coaching of not being able to win that series in spite of being ahead," the India great added.
Dravid's stint as India's head coach ended on a memorable note as the Men in Blue lifted the 2024 T20 World Cup held in the West Indies and the United States.
Dravid's highs and lows as Team India's head coach
Dravid took over as Team India's head coach from Ravi Shastri after the 2021 T20 World Cup held in the UAE in which the Men in Blue put up a disastrous performance.
With Dravid as coach and Rohit Sharma as captain, India reached the final of the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC). However, they finished runners-up for the second time in a row, going down to Australia in the final.
The Men in Blue were brilliant in the 2023 ODI World Cup as well at home. In fact, they reached the final without losing a game, only to go down to Australia again at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Earlier, India were eliminated in the semifinals of the 2022 T20 World Cup, suffering a 10-wicket loss to England.