Rahul Dravid's tenure as India's head coach, which concluded with the T20 World Cup victory, will be studied for its dignified and subtle approach to modern cricket coaching. (More Cricket News | Full Coverage)
As soon as he got a feel of the trophy, which was respectfully brought to him by the player of the match Virat Kohli, Dravid let out a roar so ferocious that it seemed as though he was finally releasing the emotions that he worked so hard to hide while in the public eye.
The 51-year-old was assigned to manage the Indian cricket team about three years ago, following Ravi Shastri's tenure. There were high expectations from him, and he fulfilled them with his final assignment as head coach, ending his tenure on a high note.
Based on the statistics and performances, Team India under Rahul Dravid's coaching has been the top-performing team in the world. India won 41 out of 56 ODIs, and 48 out of 69 T20Is. The Rohit Sharma-led Indian team only lost one Test series, with five wins and two draws. Across all formats, India's performance has been dominant, surpassing all other teams in the world.
The final against South Africa was India's third consecutive final of any ICC event in the last 12 months. India played the ICC World Test Championship final against Australia in June and the final of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 in November last year.
Additionally, India were the semi-finalist of the last T20 World Cup in 2022, where the team won all the matches but was knocked out by the eventual champions England.
Before becoming the national team's head coach, Dravid was the head of cricket at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) along with the Under-19 team and India A team's head coach. He helped India clinch the U-19 World Cup title in 2018 under Prithvi Shaw's captaincy. Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, and Arshdeep Singh were part of that squad which won the title in Australia.
Dravid is expected to take a break from cricket for a few years. He could then resume his work with junior-level cricket at NCA, given that he is a local of Bengaluru and NCA is located there.
Dravid will be remembered as one of the best coaches, leaving behind his statistics and achievements. He has left big shoes to fill for the next head coach of the Indian cricket team.
