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‘Not easy to end on wrong side’: Dravid gives his verdict on KL Rahul as captain, terms SA drubbing as ‘good eye opener’

Team India played a Test and three ODIs under KL Rahul's captaincy, but failed to win any of the four contests.

Updated on: Jan 24, 2022, 09:21:26 IST
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Leading the national side for the first time, KL Rahul failed to impress many with his captaincy abilities. The team played a Test and three ODIs under him but were unable to win any of the four contests.

India opener KL Rahul with head coach Rahul Dravid (Twitter/BCCI)
India opener KL Rahul with head coach Rahul Dravid (Twitter/BCCI)

Despite the lackluster performance, Team India head coach Rahul Dravid backed the youngster to come off as a good leader in future. In fact the former India cricketer pointed lack of proper execution as the reason behind the outcome.

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"He did a good job. It's not easy to end on wrong side of the result," said Dravid at the post-match press conference when asked how he found KL as a leader, having lost all four games that he captained on tour.

"He is just starting out and I think he did a very decent job. He will constantly get better as he captains," added the head coach.

Dravid also termed the series to be a “good eye opener” ahead of the 50-over World Cup, which will be played next year.

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"This is a good eye opener but we haven't played a lot of ODI cricket. We last played against England in March (after that second string side played against Lanka under Dravid's coaching). We will play a lot of white ball cricket before next year's World Cup."

Dravid also touched upon the team balance and hopes for a better outcome when the regular guys return to the setup.

"The guys who play at 6, 7, and 8 weren't available for selection and when they come back, the side will have a slightly different look," he said.

India lost both the Test and ODI series in what turned out to be a disastrous tour of South Africa despite a bright start in the opening Test at Centurion, which the team won comprehensively.