Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid receive backing from former India Test cricketer (AP Photo)
Following India’s defeat in the WTC final 2023, Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid have been under the cosh, but a former Indian Test cricketer has come out in their support
Following India’s defeat in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia, many questions have been asked regarding the future of Indian captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid. The decision to bench Ravichandran Ashwin backfired as the Indian bowlers failed to keep Australian batsmen at bay. Ultimately, India lost the match by a massive 209-run margin and with it, the wait for the ICC trophy rages on.
India had lost an ICC trophy under the captaincy of MS Dhoni in 2013 when the Men in Blue lifted the Champions Trophy. Since then, the Indian team has reached the semifinals of the 2015 and 2019 ODI World Cup, the final of the 2014 T20 World Cup, and the semifinal of the 2022 T20 World Cup and lost both the finals of the WTC.
Rohit and Dravid were in charge during the T20 World Cup last year, and while the duo are expected to be at the helm until the upcoming ODI World Cup later this year at home, questions have been asked about their future following the WTC final debacle.
However, not everyone feels that Rohit or Dravid should face the axe, a former Indian Test cricketer who didn’t wish to be named told Cricketnext that winning and losing are both part of the game and that such decisions shouldn’t be taken based on logic and reasoning.
The former Indian international also highlighted the reason why India failed to cross the Australian hurdle in the WTC final is because the Indian players need to exercise discipline both on and off the field.
“The biggest thing looking at the WTC final is self-discipline and self-realisation. We are not bad players. The consistency in performance and the discipline that should come are lacking. Discipline off the field will translate into discipline on the field,” he said.
The cricketer also highlighted how the Indian top order’s mistakes cost the team an ICC title and stressed the need for more responsible cricket from senior players.
“If you are not good enough, accept it. Those two wickets on the fourth afternoon (Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara) were uncalled for. The wicket was playing very well, and they played some stupid shots. These are all experienced players. Am sure they must be regretting it but it is too late,” he added.
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The ex-India cricketer continued, “Even Virat playing that shot in the last innings, he was nowhere. He was playing so well. You are looking at going ahead, but if you have this kind of line-up, you get carried away and you never know what will happen to Indian batting. You don’t expect Nos. 6, 7 and 8 to score runs. There has to be a sense of responsibility.”
He also came out in support of Rohit and Dravid stating that the duo alone are not responsible for the defeat to Australia, and such big decisions mustn’t be taken in a rush.
“I am totally against changing coach and captain based on this result. We are result-oriented people. We boast when we win, no matter how we win, and talk badly when we lose, even if we go down fighting. Winning and losing are part of the game, how you win or lose is important,” he stated.
“Change of guard is not the way. We all should get into some kind of reasoning and logic wherein we should go deep into it and see whether we lost because of the coach or captain and the answer will be different. Don’t go by the face value but go by the intrinsic value,” the former Test cricketer added.
