The Perfect Farewell : Batting Legend Rahul Dravid Ends His Head Coach Stint On A High ; Winning The T20WorldCup2024

Picture : BCCI / X

Batting legend Rahul Dravid’s tenure as India Head Coach, which ended gloriously with the T20 World Cup triumph in Barbados , will remain a case study on how to be stately and understated at the same time in modern-day cricket coaching.

Even ‘The Wall’ crumbled when emotions took charge at the end of an 11-year long title drought.

As soon as he got a feel of the trophy, which was respectfully brought to him by ‘Player of the match’ Virat Kohli, Dravid let out a roar so ferocious that it seemed he was finally letting out the emotions that he works so hard to hide while in public glare.

Rahul Dravid was not his usual restrained self after India’s T20 World Cup glory and couldn’t thank his wards enough for helping him live what he “wasn’t lucky as a player” to experience. Rohit Sharma’s side beat South Africa by 7 runs in a thrilling finale to end an 11-year ICC trophy drought.

“I really have felt short of words over the last few hours. I just could not be more proud of this team, the way we had to fight difficult situations. Even today I think it was a great testimony… for the team to lose three wickets in the first six overs, to be in the kind of position we were in, but the boys just kept fighting, they kept believing,” Dravid said after the triumph.

He also added that he doesn’t believe in words or things like redemption, playing down his contribution as the team’s head coach.

“Firstly, there is no redemption. I am not one of those guys who thinks about redemption and those kind of things. There are a lot of other players I know who have not been able to win a trophy. I was lucky to be given the opportunity to coach, and I was lucky that this bunch of boys made it possible for me to be able to win a trophy and celebrate,” said Dravid.

Picture : ICC / X

“I am not a legacy person, I am not looking for legacies, I just feel glad that we could give our best. I think I have been lucky to have been working with an exceptionally professional bunch, intelligent bunch of coaches and other support staff who have made it possible to create a fantastic environment,” he added.