Rahul Dravid has finally officially confirmed that the 2024 T20 World Cup is going to be his last assignment with the national team. Indian cricket team coach Rahul Dravid has finally officially confirmed that the 2024 T20 World Cup is going to be his last assignment with the national team.
Rahul Dravid ,the former Indian cricket team captain, who has been the head coach of the side since 2021, said he won’t be re-applying for the post. The BCCI has already advertised for the top post, with the new coach taking over from July 1. The 2024 T20 World Cup ends on June 29. Rahul Dravid was speaking ahead of the India’s first match against Ireland at the T20 World Cup 2024.
Rahul Dravid’s tenure as Indian coach
It’s the end of an era at the ICC T20 World Cup for Team India as head coach Rahul Dravid confirmed his exit from the national camp on Monday. Batting legend Rahul Dravid has made it clear that the India head coach will not reapply for the top job in Indian cricket. Thus, the 2024 edition of the T20 World Cup will be coach Rahul Dravid’s swansong. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is already on the lookout for Dravid’s replacement.
Former India skipper Dravid succeeded Ravi Shastri as head coach in November 2021. Dravid was handed a short-term extension after his two-year contract expired following the end of the 2023 World Cup. Dravid-coached Indian side contested the final of the 50-over World Cup against Australia at home. Under Dravid’s watch, India also made it to the final of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) last season. India also lifted the Asia Cup trophy with Dravid as the team’s head coach.
Speaking at the press conference ahead of India’s first match vs Ireland , Head Coach Rahul Dravid opened up on India’s plans ahead of T20I World Cup opener vs Ireland on June 5.
Indian coach Rahul Dravid ahead of WT20I opener manages to keep the opening slot cards close
Head coach Rahul Dravid refused to give a definite answer to a query on Team India’s opening combination for the 2024 T20 World Cup. He said that they have picked three options in skipper Rohit Sharma, left-hander Yashaswi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli, who opens in the IPL, adding that the final call will depend on the conditions and the kind of combination they go in with.
Rohit and Jaiswal opened the batting for India in the last two T20Is of the home series against Afghanistan at the start of the year. However, a number of cricket experts reckon that Rohit and Virat should open the batting in the T20 World Cup. At a press conference on Monday, June 3, Indian head coach Dravid was asked to shed some light on the team’s likely opening combination for the ongoing ICC event in the West Indies and the USA. He replied:
“We have got options. We are obviously not going to reveal our cards just yet. We have got Rohit and Jaiswal and Virat’s opening in the IPL as well. We’ve picked the team keeping in mind that we did have three options and we could pick and choose what we wanted depending on the conditions, depending on the kind of combination we go into these games with.
“We’ll see what it’s like, but it’s nice to have some real quality options at the top of the order,” Dravid added.
Both Rohit and Kohli were recalled to the Indian T20I squad for the first time since the 2022 T20 World Cup when the team for the Afghanistan series was named.
“You can’t say that we have not played good cricket in these tournaments” – Dravid on India not winning ICC events
As has been the case for the past few years, India are again among the favorites to win the 2024 T20 World Cup. However, despite possessing some amazing talent in their squad, the Men in Blue have not won an ICC event since 2013. Dravid, though, asserted that India’s consistency in World Cups has been up to the mark.
“We’ve played really well in these World Cups in terms of our consistency – making the semifinals in the T20 World Cup in Australia, playing extremely well in the World Test Championship cycle to get to the final there again and then the 50-over World Cup, where we had a great run and went into the final,” he said.
The 51-year-old, though, conceded that they have faltered at the final hurdle, which is definitely an area they need to address.
“You can’t say that we have not played good cricket in these tournaments. Yes, we haven’t been able to get across the line in the knockout game.
“We haven’t been able to execute in that last phase. So hopefully we play good cricket to get ourselves into those positions again and then, maybe play good cricket on the day to cross the line,” Dravid concluded.
India reached the WTC final and the ODI World Cup final last year but went down to Australia on both occasions. Team India under Rahul Dravid for one last time would love to gift coach Rahul Dravid a parting gift with a World Cup Trophy in 2024 starting their campaign with Ireland on June 5th 2024.