Reflecting on his time as a player and as a coach, the Indian cricket legend, Rahul Dravid believes that an element of luck also had a role to play in India’s success in recent years.
In some instances, luck did not favour the Indian team while in others it favoured the Men in Blue. Dravid reflected on his time as the head coach and emphasised the need to do a lot of things right when competing at the highest level.
“I’ve had time to reflect on it. I’ve had time to reflect on a lot of things we’ve done. You do realise, sometimes, you have to do a lot of these things, you have to do the process, you have to do everything right,” Dravid, who was chosen for Life Time Achievement honour during the Ceat Cricket Rating Awards, said.
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“Sometimes at the end of the day, you need a little bit of luck. (Against South Africa in T20WC final)… 30 balls to go, 30 runs to go. (It was about) incredible execution, incredible calmness by Rohit,” Dravid added.
The Indian team were on the brink of yet another heartbreak during the T20 World Cup 2024 final. In the last five overs, the Proteas needed just 30 runs. What looked like an easy run-a-ball chase turned out to be a roller-coaster of a ride.
Hardik Pandya got the momentum rolling with the wicket of Heinrich Klaasen who looked set after scoring his fifty. This was followed by Jasprit Bumrah getting rid of Marco Jansen to put pressure on the dangerous David Miller.
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With 16 runs needed in the final over, Hardik Pandya was responsible for getting the job done. Miller seemed to have struck one all the way, but Suryakumar Yadav who was at the boundary ropes, had other plans. After taking the catch of the tournament, India was able to go on and claim their second T20 World Cup title.
“We didn’t focus on what we needed to do, but we needed a guy who could keep his foot within one inch of a line. Sometimes (it is) the skill,” he said without mentioning SKY’s iconic catch to dismiss David Miller.
Dravid also reflected on the times it did not go his way. The 2023 ODI World Cup final, in front of a home crowd in Ahmedabad, was the most traumatic defeat in Indian Cricket history. The former India head coach lamented how they could not get rid of Travis Head who went on to score a mammoth century to give Australia the title.
“(On) 19th November… I remember whatever it was, we beat Travis Head’s bat 15 times — he didn’t touch a single ball. You know, things can go your way sometimes, but you have to stick to the process,” the articulate Dravid circled back to sticking to the basics,” he commented.
(with PTI Inputs)
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