“Honestly, I didn’t want to do anything different” – Rahul Dravid opens up on India’s 2023 ODI and 2024 T20 World Cup campaigns

Former Indian head coach Rahul Dravid recalled he didn’t want to change anything after the ODI World Cup 2023 final loss against Australia while going into the T20 World Cup. India was dominant right throughout their campaign in the ODI showpiece, winning 10 matches on the bounce but they could not cross the last hurdle against the Pat Cummins-led team.

The hosts had ticked the right boxes in the ODI World Cup but they could not bring their best in the all-important final. However, India was able to end their major ICC title drought after lifting the T20 World Cup, winning all of their eight matches.

The Rohit Sharma-led team defeated South Africa by seven runs in the final at Barbados to clinch their T20 World Cup title. Dravid, who was the brain behind all the planning and strategy, was delighted with the team’s performance.

Rahul Dravid said on CEAT Cricket Rating awards, “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. 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.”

“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 added.

Dravid added that it was phenomenal to see fans’ passion while traveling all across the country during the ODI World Cup.

“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,” Dravid said at the CEAT Cricket Rating awards ceremony.

“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 added.

After Dravid’s stint, Gautam Gambhir has taken over as India’s head coach.