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Rahul Dravid. (Photo Source: Alex Davidson-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)
India’s opening fixture in the ODI World Cup is against five-time champions Australia on Sunday, October 8, in Chennai. A couple of days ahead of the encounter, the head coach of the ‘Men in Blue’, Rahul Dravid, was asked about India’s debacle in the 2007 ODI World Cup under his leadership.
Dravid led a team that comprised legendary players like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and Virender Sehwag, and talented youngsters like Yuvraj Singh, and MS Dhoni, among others in the Caribbean, in the ninth edition of the marquee event. Their campaign started with an unexpected loss to Bangladesh. Dravid and Co. bounced back with a huge win against Bermuda, but a subsequent loss to Sri Lanka resulted in a group-stage exit which gave rise to severe criticism back home.
Now, Dravid is wearing the coach’s hat and is all set to work with captain Rohit Sharma to help India end their ICC trophy drought. However, the 50-year-old was asked about the forgettable performance of the Indian team under his leadership in the World Cup in 2007. Dravid, who is known for his witty replies, dodged the question, shifting focus on the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023, rather than going back in time.
“It is a long time since I was a player. I almost forgot that I was actually a cricket player at one stage to be very honest with you. I have moved on from that. I don’t think of myself as a player anymore. Maybe that’s the mind-space difference. I am focused on helping the group to do the best they can,” Dravid was quoted as saying by India Today.
“I mean in the end that’s the job of the support staff, the job of the coach really is to support the vision of the captain and help him execute his vision over the course of the next couple of months and hope we can do that really well,” he added.
Shubman Gill missed the training session on Thursday due to illness but Dravid mentioned that the Punjab batter is recovering well. It will be interesting to see if the batting sensation can recover in time for the match against Australia.
