“If you don’t win the trophy, Hundreds mean nothing”, India’s current Vice-Captain in the ODIs and T-20s Rohit Sharma said in an interview recently. The Hitman, as he is called for his destructive abilities, had scored 5 tons in the 2019 ODI World Cup, amassing 618 runs at an average of 81.00 from just 9 games. He was also the highest run-getter in the tournament and broke the record for most centuries in the world cup as well. However, none of these exploits could fetch India the silverware it craved the most since the 2013 Champions Trophy, a world cup trophy. When Rohit made the statement of personal records and lack of major titles, he was in a way echoing the sentiments of the cricked-mad Indian public in general.
Rohit’s comment assumes significance in the light of Rahul Dravid taking over from the current head coach Ravi Shastri after the T-20 carnival in the UAE. With India’s qualifying prospects resting on faint hopes in the ongoing T-20 World Cup, the chief responsibility of the new head coach becomes as clear as daylight: arrest India’s dwindling fortunes in the big-ticket tournaments. Under Ravi Shastri, the team India scripted several new success stories, notably the Test series triumphs in Australia (2018 & 2020-21). But the former all-rounder was unable to assist Team India to lift major titles. So, Dravid has his task cut out even before he starts his stint with the men’s senior team.
As a head coach of India Under-19 and A teams from 2016 to 2019, Dravid helped a bunch of youngsters to lift the junior world cup title in 2018. Even in his 2016 tenure, the country’s under-19 team remained runners-up in the junior world cup. So, Dravid needs to bring these valuable experiences into the senior team to put a full stop to the never-ending dry seasons of India in the major ICC events.
With India scheduled to play two world cups (T-20 & ODI respectively) in 2022 and 2023, the entire nation will be pinning its hope on “The Wall” of Indian cricket to effect a turnaround. In such a scenario, true cricket fans can only hope there won’t be a repeat of either Chappel or Kumble sagas in the future. To conclude, it would not be inappropriate to touch upon the request of former Team India cricketer Ajay Jadeja to the BCCI mandarins “ If a man like Rahul Dravid has joined then please, please move alongside his vision, understanding and dedication, don’t tell him how to run the team”. Period.
