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'That is Rahul Dravid for you': Former player explains how India head coach's methods are similar to his captaincy
India managed to keep their unbeaten record at home under Rahul Dravid intact despite going 2-0 down in the five-match T20I series against South Africa.
Rahul Dravid has been India's head coach since November 2021 and under him, India have continued their domination at home. However, that domination was questioned to some extent by South Africa, who are also the only team to have beaten India in a series any format since Dravid took over. While South Africa had beaten India in a Test and ODI series during the latter's tour of the country, they managed to draw 2-2 in a five-match T20I series that ended with a washed out match on Sunday in Bengaluru.
India had lost the first two matches of the series, in which a number of key players were either injured or rested. But they managed to fight back to make it 2-2 before rain prevented the Bengaluru T20I to reach a conclusion. Veteran Dinesh Karthik had spoken about how Dravid makes the dressing room feel the same regardless of whether the team has won or not.
“He is talking about how the setup has become more process oriented rather than being based on results. That is what DK is trying to convey. Win or lose, we are going to continue with out work, have a certain plan and looking at Rahul Dravid and how he approaches, he must have first taken a look at the calendar,” Zaheer, who played under Dravid's captaincy in his playing days, said on Cricbuzz.
“He would have identified the important series and the players for these based on their records and their experience. It would also depend on the style of players. For example if you are playing in England, you need a certain style of a bowler who can make the best of those conditions. Planning for those kinds of things would have happened at the back end and then comes the communication.
"That is also going to be very thorough. If you are taking a player to England, you are going to be very open to telling the player that this is the nature of your game which is going to help the team which is why we are looking at you playing a certain role. Similar approach will be there for different series.
“That is Rahul Dravid for you, he has played his cricket that way. He will be planning the whole of his stint in that manner. The next year, the 50 overs World Cup and the Test Championship are the big ones. There is a T20 World Cup coming this year. These are the milestone tournaments he will look at and identify certain series around that,” said Zaheer.
