When he succeeded Ravi Shastri as head coach of Team India following the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates last year, there were high hopes for him. It came as a big surprise when he agreed to take on the big challenge. However, once he joined, it was anticipated that he would have a significant impact.
Dravid had an easy start because Team India won regulation games against Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and the West Indies at home. After that, though, the real test started, and the picture after a year with Dravid in charge is not very good. From a strong position, India lost the rescheduled Test in Birmingham.
Sadly, the loss was not isolated to the coach or India. They failed miserably in the T20 World Cup semi-finals in Australia and struggled in the UAE’s Asia Cup. In the Bangladesh ODI series, fans hoped for some respite. However, the Men in Blue are horrified to learn that they have also lost that rubber, this time with just one game remaining.
Coach Dravid, in addition to captain Rohit Sharma, has received a lot of criticism for Team India’s poor performances. We examine three factors that contributed to Dravid’s difficulties as coach of the national team in the midst of the debate regarding the issues in Indian cricket.
#1 Inability to put together a core team
Team India appears to be having a difficult time recently due to their inability to form a core group. Dravid has failed to identify a core group of players who can be supported and developed as head coach. The Men in Blue paid a heavy price for entering the T20 World Cup with their lineup in doubt.
The selection of the team and the team’s overall performance at the ICC event lacked conviction.
They did well against the relatively weaker teams after their impressive victory over archrival Pakistan in the tournament’s opening match.
They, on the other hand, proved to be a complete embarrassment in their two other matches against major teams. In the semi-final match in Adelaide, England dominated India while the South African pacers dismantled India’s batting in Perth.
Dravid and Rohit appeared uncertain about their team lineup throughout the World Cup. Dinesh Karthik, the goalkeeper, was backed for the first games, but Rishabh Pant, who hadn’t been playing well, was called up toward the end.
The decision to use Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin rather than Yuzvendra Chahal had a significant spin effect as well.
Dravid seemed to have no idea what was going on in the middle of the Bangladesh ODIs, which are currently underway, as Team India suffered an embarrassing defeat. Another result of the management’s inability to gather a core group of players is the defeat.
#2 No evident roadmap
There is no clear path forward, return, rest, and repeat! Over the course of roughly six months, Indian cricket has experienced this. Every second series has literally seen players, including big names, rest. Before the T20 World Cup, this occurred frequently and has continued ever since.
Take note of the fact that KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, and Rohit were rested immediately following the T20 World Cup for the New Zealand tour. However, they were all included in the Bangladesh series squad.
VVS Laxman served as the interim coach while Dravid took a break for the Kiwi tour. The players and the coach are basically telling Indian fans by their actions that a tour of New Zealand is less important than a tour of Bangladesh.
A second-string ODI team was defeated by the Kiwis, and a so-called full-strength team lost to Bangladesh. In a nutshell, Indian cricket has continued under the Rohit-Dravid administration without a clear plan.
In the past few months, it has become difficult to track the number of players who have made their India debuts. How many players have recently led the team in each of the three formats? At the moment, Indian cricket appears to be one big circus without a ringmaster.
#3 Dravid is being held back by too many injuries
To be fair to Dravid and his team, Team India’s key players have been missing from action frequently due to injuries and fitness issues.
Ravindra Jadeja, an all-rounder, hasn’t played since the Asia Cup. Due to a back injury, lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah was also ruled out of the T20 World Cup and is still out.
After recovering from COVID-19, Mohammed Shami participated in the World Cup, but he is once more sidelined with a stiff shoulder. He was disqualified from the Bangladesh One-Day Internationals and the Test series as well.
This is not the end of it. Once more, Rohit and pacers Kuldeep Sen and Deepak Chahar due to various fitness issues, have been ruled out of the third One-Day International against Bangladesh.
Rohit opened up about India’s injury woes during a press conference following the second ODI defeat in Dhaka and admitted:
“There aren’t many concerns about injuries; we need to figure out why. must attempt to monitor them because understanding this is crucial. They must be at or above 100 percent when they play for India. We want to screen their responsibility since we can’t have folks coming in that frame of mind for the nation half-fit.“
Dravid and Rohit must meet with the NCA coaches to ascertain why so many players are suffering injuries. With half-fit cricketers in their ranks, India will not win many games regardless of the strategies they employ.