Rahul Dravid, who took over as Head Coach of the Indian Cricket team from Ravi Shastri after India’s group-stage exit in last year’s T20 World Cup in UAE, will have his first big challenge when in eight months, India participates in the T20 World Cup hosted by Australia.
Regarding the team combination, Dravid said that there’s no fixed formula for it but also clarified that he, along with Rohit, selectors and management, have got a fair idea.
He also said they are pretty clear about the skills and the combination of the team they would need in Australia. Now they are just structuring a team around it and balancing players’ workload.
India recently whitewashed West Indies in ODI’s and the T20I’s. The T20I series against West Indies was India’s first in a packed calendar in the build-up to the World Cup. In four days, they now take on Sri Lanka in an identical three-match rubber.
Dravid said that he didn’t want to cast his net too wide. But, on the other hand, they don’t also want to restrict ourselves to just 15 players. They want to give players opportunities and ensure that the guys have played at least 10 to 20 games by the time they get to the World Cup.
He also said they need to make sure that youngsters are ready to play in high-pressure situations if they need other players due to injuries.
Ishan Kishan opened in all three matches of the series, but the Jharkhand wicketkeeper-batter failed to impress with just 71 runs at a very slow pace.
In the final game, run-machine Ruturaj Gaikwad opened with Kishan as Rohit opted to bat at No.4, but the duo failed to make it big. However, Dravid said the youngsters should not be judged on one series or one bad game.
Dravid’s stint as India coach started with a 3-0 sweep over New Zealand last year. Since then, it’s been a roller-coaster ride.
Be it their back-to-back Test and ODI series defeats in South Africa, the controversy surrounding Virat Kohli’s captaincy or the recent saga around Wriddhiman Saha’s sacking from Test cricket, Dravid summed it all up by saying it’s been a “learning experience”.
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