“This team has reached the final of the last 3 ICC events” – Aakash Chopra on Rahul Dravid’s legacy as India coach

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra lauded Rahul Dravid’s legacy as the team’s head coach. Under Rahul Dravid’s tutelage, India reached the final of the World Test Championship 2023 and also made it to the summit clash of the ODI World Cup in the same year.

But Team India could not get over the line in both of these events against Australia. However, India was finally able to break their major ICC title hoodoo by beating South Africa by seven runs at Barbados on Saturday.

Dravid was able to get the best out of his players and backed them to play with an aggressive approach. Before taking the senior team’s coaching baton, Dravid got the desired results with India’s Under-19 and A-team.

“He started with under-19, remained with the India A team, and then came with this team. This team has reached the final of the last three ICC events and you won the Asia Cup. You reached the WTC final, the team remained consistently as No. 1, reached the ODI World Cup final, and won the T20 World Cup final,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.

Chopra hailed his former teammate for providing stability and clarity of thought to guide the players on the right track.

“Good things happen to good people. Your heart is satiated if such things happen. The team Rahul Dravid created has disintegrated slightly in this format because three retirements have come one after the other but he provided stability and clarity of thought,” Chopra added.

The renowned commentator hailed Dravid for declining lucrative IPL offers and preferring to work with the Indian team at all levels.

“Rahul Dravid’s legacy is not the last day. His legacy is that he started working with the under-19s. Then he had the option to become an IPL coach. In the IPL, you get more money, have less work, it’s more glamorous, and you are appreciated and admired more,” he said (10:25).

“Life is a lot easier. You can be with your family for 10 months and spend two months in the IPL. However, he said ‘no’. He said he wanted to become the under-19 coach. He is Rahul Dravid, that is his legacy. He doesn’t take any shortcuts. He has always chosen the longer route which might not be very exciting and might require a lot of hard work,” Chopra explained.

Gautam Gambhir is expected to take over from Rahul Dravid as India’s chief coach.