NEW DELHI:
Rahul Dravid
, who previously served as India's head coach, discussed the efforts made by the support staff to maintain the positive team dynamics from the 2023
ODI World Cup
throughout the
T20 World Cup
campaign.
He emphasized that this consistent approach played a crucial role in helping the Indian team break their drought in ICC tournaments.
Dravid's strategic leadership was instrumental in guiding India to victory in the T20
World Cup
held in the Americas, marking a significant achievement before his departure from the head coach position in June.
"Honestly, I didn't want to do anything different. I think we ran a fantastic campaign in the one-day World Cup, Rohit and the team, everyone involved in that one-day World Cup, we ran a superb campaign," Dravid said, as quoted by PTI, at the
Ceat Cricket Rating Awards
in Mumbai.
India suffered a heartbreaking defeat against Australia in the ODI World Cup final in Ahmedabad.
"There's nothing we could have done more in terms of our preparation, the planning, the execution of what we needed to do for 10 games in a row to dominate, to win the game we did, play the game we did," said Dravid.
The Bengaluru native mentioned that he and the rest of the coaching staff were keen on maintaining the established atmosphere of a cordial dressing room.
"I did not want to change anything. If you'd asked me and we had a discussion with our support staff, we'd get together with the coaches and say, what do you think we should do differently?"
"The common consensus (among the team) was we need to do exactly what we did. We need to create the same energy, create the same vibe, the same team atmosphere that we had and then just hope that on the day, we'll have a little bit of luck," he said.
Although he never played in a World Cup in either limited-overs format in India, he was able to fully absorb the excitement as the head coach.
"To travel all over this country and to be able to experience that joy and passion of the fans. I've never been a part of a World Cup as a player in India, but just the experience as a coach to go from city to city and just walk and see what this game meant to the people of this country was phenomenal. It was incredible," he said.
Dravid acknowledged that Australia were the better team in the ODI World Cup final.
"I thought we ran a phenomenal campaign. We came unstuck in the final and Australia played better cricket than us on the day. They were a better team and congratulations (to them). That can happen in sport and that's what sport is about," he said.
English (US) ·