In 2007, India faced a shocking elimination during the World Cup group stage, suffering losses to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. As the head coach of India, Rahul Dravid is preparing for his first ODI World Cup campaign with Rohit Sharma’s team set to launch their title quest against Australia on October 8. This marks Dravid’s second ICC tournament as the senior team’s head coach; last year, India exited the T20 World Cup in the semi-finals, losing to England by 10 wickets.
Dravid, a legendary batsman during his playing days, encountered his fair share of challenges in leadership roles, and the 2007 ODI World Cup remains a prominent blemish on his career. During that tournament, India was embarrassingly knocked out in the group stage, suffering defeats at the hands of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Now, more than 16 years have passed since that regrettable World Cup campaign, and it appears that Dravid has moved past those trying times.
In his current role, long after retiring from the game, Dravid has entirely shifted his focus to guiding India towards World Cup glory as part of the team’s management. He openly admitted that he has “forgotten” what it’s like to be a player.
“It’s a long time since I was a player. I almost forgot that I was actually a cricket player at one stage to be very honest with you,” Dravid said in a press conference ahead of India’s opener against Australia.
“I have moved on from that. I don’t think of myself as a player anymore. Maybe that’s the mind-space difference… I’m focussed on helping the group to do the best they can.
“I mean in the end that’s the job of the support staff, the job of the coach really is to support the vision of the captain and help him execute his vision over the course of the next couple of months and hope we can do that really well.”
In a sport where uncertainties are aplenty, Dravid firmly believes in the mantra of “controlling the controllables,” a phrase famously associated with former captain MS Dhoni. Dravid fully embraces this philosophy, understanding that once the players step onto the field, their performance is beyond his control. However, what he can control is the support he provides, the guidance he offers, and the wisdom he shares with the team.“Yeah… I mean I guess you recognise as a coach that once the game starts, once the guys cross the line, there is only so much you can do”
“As coaches, we don’t score a single run or take a single wicket in the tournament. All we can do is really support the players.”, he concluded.