T20 World Cup 2024 – Rahul Dravid confirms he will not reapply for India’s head coach post

Dravid confirmed it when he was asked if this world cup will be extremely important for him. “Every tournament is important,” said Dravid. “All the games I have coached for India have been very important to me. For me this is no different because it will be my last one in charge. I love the job. I love it.” I really enjoyed coaching India, and I think it’s a really special job that I enjoyed working with this team, and it’s a lot of guys to work with.
“Unfortunately, it’s just kind of schedules [that are in place in international cricket] and when I find myself at this stage of my life, I don’t think I’ll be able to reapply. Having said that, it’s not unusual for me to be very honest. I don’t see this as different or important. From the first day I took the job, I always felt that every game is important and every game is important, and that will not change. “
As a player, Dravid played in the final of the World Cup in 2003, but although he enjoyed an impressive career and was part of the No. 1 Test, he was not called the world champion. As a coach, he approached it three times, in all three formats. This will be his last chance for now to be part of the world champions. However, Dravid could step back and look at the bigger picture.
“To be honest, I think we actually played very well in this World Cup,” said Dravid. “As far as we are concerned, we have not changed. We reached the semi-finals of the first T20 in Australia. [in 2022]. The World Test Championship is a bit different in terms of not being a single tournament, but a whole cycle, but you have to play really well in the cycle to get to the final again. [in 2023]. The 50-over World Cup where we did well and made it to the final [in 2023]. In terms of our consistency, in terms of the level of cricket we have played in these major tournaments, I think we have been up there with the best teams.
“We can’t say that we didn’t play good cricket in these tournaments. Yes, maybe we couldn’t cross the line in that playoff game. [2023 ODI] last in Ahmedabad or [WTC final] A match at The Oval and a repeat in Adelaide in the semi final of the T20. So we probably couldn’t make it to that last stage.
“Hopefully we play good cricket to get ourselves back into those positions again. Then we play good cricket on the day to get over the line. But the important thing when you start these tournaments is not to think about that. Really thinking about it. to get into those positions and I think that’s as difficult as winning those games at times the goal will be is to try to put ourselves in a position where we will give ourselves a chance to win the competition.”
That is unfortunately not enough if you are an Indian cricket team. It comes with the position of being the most followed cricket team in the world. Dravid said that they will have to focus more on decision-making than expected to get through the match.
“Knowing how to read and understand situations that will be different in different places,” said Dravid. “Our ability to use our experience. Our ability to play in the middle. Our ability to make the right decisions with batting or with the ball in those critical moments, that will be the defining factor. We can choose to focus on that rather than worry about expectations and it’s a good thing that people rate our team a lot because that means we’ve been playing good cricket and we have a good team together.”
Siddharth Monga is a senior writer at ESPNcricinfo
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