Ravi Shastri, who was the former head coach of the Indian cricket team, has spoken out in support of Rahul Dravid, the current coach. He believes that Dravid should be given more time to prove his capabilities before any critique is passed of his work so far. When Dravid was appointed in November 2021, there was a lot of anticipation that the Indian team would finally put an end to their ICC Trophy drought and also win multiple tournaments and away series. Unfortunately, the results haven’t been as expected in the past 16 months.
In addition to losing the Test and ODI series in South Africa, India also faced defeat in the rescheduled fifth Test against England at Edgbaston. Taking over from Ravi Shastri, Dravid has the challenging task of filling his shoes, especially when it comes to international competitions. However, the team has also achieved notable victories, such as winning a two-Test series in Australia, one in Sri Lanka, and another in the West Indies.
During an interview with Sports Tak, Ravi Shastri spoke about Dravid and stated, “It takes time. It took me time and it’s going to take him time too. But Rahul has an advantage that he was at the NCA, he was with the A team as well and now he’s here too. He is experienced with contemporary cricketer players and with the system. Give him time.”
Shastri noted that in India, people prioritize winning trophies above everything else, but their priorities can shift quickly. To support his argument, he referred to the two Asia Cup victories that India secured in 2016 and 2018 under his guidance.
Ravi Shastri stated, “In our country, public memory is short. If you have to win, you have to win. During my tenure, we won two Asia Cups, but no one remembers. Has anyone mentioned the Asia Cup? We’ve won it twice. And no one talks about it. But when we lose in the Asia Cup, then the tournament comes into the picture. Why?”
Dravid’s contract is set to expire after the 2023 ODI World Cup, and there is a possibility of extension only if India performs well in the tournament on their home turf. During the interview, Shastri emphasized that the Indian team should concentrate on playing more matches of the same format, depending on the specific format of the World Cup in that particular year.
Regarding the preparations, Ravi Shastri remarked, “For all you know, India might be playing a Test series somewhere but a T20 tournament is going on somewhere else with an Indian team. You have to see what is important in that year and accordingly get the players to primarily focus on playing those games. So, if there’s a World Cup of 50-over cricket coming, emphasis should be on the 50-over format. If it’s a T20 World Cup year, emphasis should be on that format and you have to decide who your nucleus of 15-18 players are and they should be playing.”