Dravid says Rohit’s call in November made him stay on
The Team India coach revealed that he’d almost walked away eight months ago, and it was a call from captain Rohit Sharma that made him stay on.
In 2007, when his India team crashed out of the ODI World Cup in the first round after a match against Sri Lanka at Port of Spain, captain Rahul Dravid, then 34, experienced the lowest point of his career. On Saturday, 17 years later, just 350km away in Barbados, in his last match as India coach, he perhaps made his peace with the moment.
Dravid, now 51, finally held aloft the T20 World Cup (at the prompting of Virat Kohli), and then let it all out.
Though Dravid says he doesn’t believe in redemption stories, he made an emotional speech in the dressing room -- one that revealed how much the moment and this team meant to him.
He also revealed that he’d almost walked away eight months ago, and it was a call from captain Rohit Sharma that made him stay on.
“Thank you very much, Ro (Rohit), for making that call in November and asking me to continue,” Dravid said in the India dressing-room after the final. “It’s been such a privilege and a pleasure to work with each and every one of you, but also with Ro. Thank you for your time. I know as captain and coach, there are a lot of times we have to chat. We have to agree; we have to disagree. It’s been brilliant to know each and every one of you.”
The video of the speech was shared by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday.
“I am really short of words but all I want to say is thank you to everyone for making me a part of what is an incredible memory,” Dravid told the players. “I think all of you will remember these moments. It’s not about the runs, the wickets, you will not remember your career. But you will remember moments like these. I cannot be prouder of you guys. To come back the way you did, the way you fought. The way we worked as a team. The resilience,” he said.
In November 2021, Dravid took over from Ravi Shastri. It was expected to be a big change in more ways than one. Shastri’s in-your-face approach gave way to a subtle pragmatism. Dravid’s tenure, as he stated at the start of his initial two years in the job, was going to be about being realistic. Wins against weakened teams didn’t count for much in his book as he set about trying to change Indian cricket’s template.
The shift was gradual. The plans were set in place, the players were won over but it took time for things to come together. Under him last year India made it to the final of the World Test Championship and the ODI World Cup, but as we had seen during his playing career as well, the trophy eluded the team.
His contract originally ran till the ODI World Cup but with Rohit Sharma urging him to stay on for another World Cup, the 51-year-old finally gave in. Never one to do things half-heartedly, once his mind was made up, he and his team pushed the players to adopt a modern T20 approach.
At the World Cup, the Indian team barely put a foot wrong. They won in New York on a difficult surface, gathered momentum in the West Indies and then with their backs to the wall conjured up a miraculous win in the final. When things are going swimmingly, Dravid generally receded into the background. Even when they weren’t, he was never one to blame the players.
For Dravid, the process had to be trusted. The T20 World Cup win finally vindicated his belief.
“There have been a few disappointments over the years where we have come close but we have not been able to cross the line,” he said. “But what this bunch of boys has done, everyone in the support staff has done. The whole country is proud of each and every one of you for what you have achieved. There are so many sacrifices each of you have made.
“To see your families here today and so many of your families back home, think of all the sacrifices every one of them have made since the time you were kids. For you to be here in the dressing room today, your parents, wives, children, brothers, your coaches – so many people have made so many sacrifices for you to enjoy this memory, this moment.”
