Rahul Dravid’s contract as India head coach ends.

[rollingstoned]

Rahul Dravid’s contract as India head coach ends! Suspense remains over Mr Dependable’s extension    

 

ICC World Cup Final 2023: Talking to media during the after-match presentation, when asked about his future with Team India, Dravid nonchalantly said that he has not given a thought to that.

 

Is it time for Rahul ‘The Wall’ Dravid to say goodbye to ‘Men in Blue’? The illustrious cricketer, who was the silent force behind India’s stellar performance during the ICC World Cup 2023, saw his term ending as the India Head Coach on November 19, Sunday. It was the day of billion heartbreaks as Rohit Sharma-led squad was outclassed by Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

 

 

 

While there will be many who will break down the techniques and on-field performance by Men in Blue, one thing that remains out of question is Dravid’s stamp. Talking to media during the after-match presentation, when asked about his future with Team India, Dravid nonchalantly said that he has not given a thought to that. Saying that he was completely focused on the World Cup campaign, Dravid said that he will reflect on his future once he gets time. There has been no word from the BCCI on Dravid’s extension as Head Coach.

 

 

What about ICC World Cup 2027?

 

During his two-year term as India head coach, Dravid has guided the Men in Blue to two ICC tournament finals and one semi-final. When asked about how he sees his stint as Head Coach, the 50-year-old said, “To be honest, I am not really someone who’s going to judge and analyse myself. I was really proud to work with. I think the players that I worked with over the last two years in all the formats, it’s been a privilege.” When questioned on World Cup 2027, Dravid laughed and said that there’s a lot of time for the South Africa Edition. “A lot of water will flow under the bridge,” he added.

 

The Wall’s silent revolution

 

Dravid’s signature as a class batsman, who rarely gave away his wicket, became his mantra as head coach too. ‘The Wall,’ who gave us unforgettable 376-run partnership with VVS Laxman in 2001 to 12-hour batting against Pakistan in 2004, Dravid went beyond being a player and becoming a legend. When most cricketers opted for more glamourous jobs after their stint as player ended, Dravid chose to a much simpler and away from all the buzz role. In 2016, he was appointed coach of India’s under-19 and A (junior national side) teams.

 

 

 

Away from all the glitz, Dravid honed the young talent and India reached under-19 World Cup in 2016. After three years, Dravid got the top job at the National Cricket Academy. This was the period when Indian cricket team was struggling and lots to New Zealand in 2019 World Cup semi-final. It was against this kind of troubling backdrop that Dravid was given the responsibility of India’s head coach. Too many wrote off the team much before the World Cup campaign began. Many questioned Dravid’s role as Head Coach after Virat Kohli quit the captaincy last year. Amid all the drama, Dravid switched to his well-known no-nonsense approach. Team was told to focus on the game and not pay heed to the noise.

[jalebi_bhai]

Good. 

 

Thanks for trying Jammy, but you were largely out of your depth in the position.

[rollingstoned]

Tbh it's time we thank him for his services and bid adieu. I cannot really think of anything revolutionary that he introduced in his 2 yr stint and it became clear that what he did with the u19 team wouldn't be replicated here. For a team that wasn't that young he oversaw a test series loss to Saf, a mediocre t20wc last year and a bad Asia cup before that, failure to win the solitary test last year that we played against England and a loss in the wtc final this year apart from this WC which can be said to have been a decent campaign at the least. 

Of greater concern and disappointment is the lack of improvement we see in our batting in general under his watch. 

Edited November 20 by rollingstoned

[Lord]

Unless he himself isnt interested. It will be extended.

[rollingstoned]

It is time we get a foreign coach me thinks. That is another reason. Our cricket in general could do with a refresh and some new ideas. 

[R!TTER]

14 minutes ago, rollingstoned said:

It is time we get a foreign coach me thinks.

Yes & no - Shastri slyly hinted that a lot of players simply don't wanna change when he was on commentary many times! The power is with the players now, this will affect results massively despite who is the coach.

[Lord]

10 minutes ago, R!TTER said:

Yes & no - Shastri slyly hinted that a lot of players simply don't wanna change when he was on commentary many times! The power is with the players now, this will affect results massively despite who is the coach.

 

Results are not good anyway

[LordPrabhzy]

Unless a foreign coach is brought in that will have a no nonsense approach and does not care two hoots about Indian player PR machinery then you might as well not need a coach because the players will do what they want to do and some players will be picked regardless so why tf you need a coach. Just a Team manager that sorts out accommodation and restaurant bookings

[Andy]

4 minutes ago, Lord said:

 

Results are not good anyway

 

He is suggesting that players would revolt much like the Chappel saga. In that case the coach will have bow down in front of the players or the board will have to bow down and sack the coach. 

 

P.S: I highly doubt if Dravid would leave the team by his own. 

[Number]

Will most probably be extended. Players are comfortable with him. Probably till CT 2025, we are going with the same white ball setup.

Edited November 20 by Number

[The Realist]

Need a clear-out starting with the coach. Results been v poor in terms of winning the big occasions/competitions. Dravid has been building a retirement home yet unlike the Aussies has zero trophies to show for it.

 

New generation need to be brought through. Dravid and his outdated thinking is a barrier hence needs to go. 

[R!TTER]

37 minutes ago, Lord said:

Results are not good anyway

Point is these IPL stars have too much power now, it's almost impossible to break their monopoly over the national team! What's touchmenot Panda doing at this level getting *ing injured every 5 games? Did you see him in that ridiculous hat at the Wankhede chilling out like a superstar? That's the attitude of 90% of the team who are set for life

Edited November 20 by R!TTER

[rollingstoned]

2 hours ago, R!TTER said:

Yes & no - Shastri slyly hinted that a lot of players simply don't wanna change when he was on commentary many times! The power is with the players now, this will affect results massively despite who is the coach.

New coach will need unmoulded clay rather than finished pots in our context much like Ganguly was during Wright's time. 

Edited November 20 by rollingstoned

[Ultimate_Game]

Absolutely useless as a coach, and absolutely zero innovation under him. When most of the teams are adding batting depth and looking for multi-skilled cricketers, he went the other way and made our team a one trick pony with specialists who can't do anything else. Essentially there's no scope for Plan B. And he made the bone headed call of selecting SKY in Tests and Odis over the likes of Sarfaraz (Tests) and Rinku Singh (Odis).

[Frustrated]

Useless/Powerless coach.   Should be axed.   He can continue with his annoying 24×7 Engine Oil Ads though. 

[vvvslaxman]

No excuse not to win a home world cup with inform team.

[Laaloo]

Good riddance 

[Frustrated]

4 minutes ago, Laaloo said:

Good riddance 

How?   There are reports (unofficial) coming in that his tenure is going to be extended.  

[Sgattick10]

Both Rahul and Rohit need to go. Rohit is 36 he won't be playing the next WC for sure so what's the point in continuing in this format just concentrate in test matches. Let a new coach and captain build the team for 2027 

[rangeelaraja]

5 hours ago, LordPrabhzy said:

Unless a foreign coach is brought in that will have a no nonsense approach and does not care two hoots about Indian player PR machinery then you might as well not need a coach because the players will do what they want to do and some players will be picked regardless so why tf you need a coach. Just a Team manager that sorts out accommodation and restaurant bookings

 

 

Foreign coaches won't help unless we change culturally and player power is killed within the system.

 

Even foreign coaches will be well informed and come in with the mindset that (aaaukat mein raho else, 'star' players will gang up against me and get me fired )

 

We have done remarkably well in tests under Shastri  - beating Aus in Aus back to back series.

 

Indian coaches will do the job. We don't need foreign coaches.

 

We need to a more professional BCCI and some of the best sports mentors from American sports - that train a player to perform out of their depth on the big day.

 

Someone like Michael Phelps who was on the verge of suicide after 2012 Olympics  - under the counsel of sports psychologist un-retired and destroyed the 2016 Olympics with an even bigger gold medal tally.