MUMBAI:
Rahul Dravid’s tenure as the head coach of the Indian team is all set to end in June after the 2024 T20 World Cup. And while the India legend gained success during his tenure with the U-19 side or the India A team, which had, in fact, made him the frontrunner to replace Ravi Shastri back in 2022, Dravid had failed to lead the senior national team to an ICC title glory yet. But come the T20 World Cup, that begins from June 1 onwards, he will get one last opportunity to end India’s long-standing trophy drought and end his tenure on a high.
Ahead of the big tournament, former West Indies cricketer Brian Lara sent a clear-cut message to Dravid, suggesting him to devise a plan for the final stages of the tournament, a hurdle which India have failed to cross since 2013 across ICC tournaments. Speaking to Star Sports, the Windies legend reckoned that irrespective of the big names that India have in their squad, they need to focus on having a clear strategy about winning the World Cup.
“Indian team, just looking from the outside, in previous Cups, be it T20 or 50-overs, I just feel they are lacking that final plan in terms of how they are going to go about. It doesn’t matter how many superstars you have; it matters how you are going to go about winning this World Cup, what plans you are going to have in place, and how you are going to structure your innings or attack. I hope Rahul Dravid can get his players together and can devise a plan for India to win T20 World Cup,” said Lara when asked about any concern regarding the Menin Blue ahead of of the ICC event.
This will be the second T20 World Cup India will play during Dravid’s tenure as head coach. In 2022, the Rohit Sharma-led side had reached the semis before being beaten by eventual champions England in the semis. Overall, India have just one title in the history of this T20 tournament, having won in the inaugural year (2007) under the leadership of MS Dhoni. India have since made the semis twice and finished as runners-up once in the next seven editions.
India will begin their T20 World Cup campaign on June 5 against Ireland at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, followed by the mouth-watering clash against arch-rivals Pakistan at the same venue on June 9. Co-hosts USA and Canada are the other two members in Group A besides the aforementioned three.
India, who last played an international game in the format back in January at home, will also play a warm-up game against Bangladesh on June 1 in New York.
