Rahul Dravid Reflects on ODI World Cup Setback and India's T20 World Cup Triumph Within 8 Months

This year, Rahul Dravid made history by leading India into the T20 World Cup. Nevertheless, Gautam Gambhir eventually took his place as head coach, marking his final tournament in that role. Dravid discusses the experience he had while serving as head coach after India’s ODI World Cup loss to Australia in 2023.

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Rahul Dravid shares his experience after India lost the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 to Australia

Rahul Dravid, the former head coach of the Indian cricket team, has provided valuable information on the preparation for the ODI and T20 World Cups. He said that the team's strategy remained unchanged for both tournaments. During a CEAT awards function, Dravid emphasised that the coaching staff unanimously saw the significance of adhering to the same procedures that were implemented during the ODI World Cup.

India suffered a devastating loss by 6 wickets in the ODI World Cup Final against Australia on their home ground in November 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Notwithstanding this obstacle, the squad mostly maintained its fundamental staff, making only little modifications as they approached the T20 World Cup, which took place in the USA and the Caribbean. They won the T20 World Cup final, beating South Africa in the final. 

Upon reviewing the ODI World Cup campaign, Rahul Dravid commended India's overall effort but conceded that Australia emerged as the superior team in the final. He attributed India's defeat to a stroke of bad luck on that particular day. Rahul Dravid said: 

“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,”

“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,” 

It is important to note that the Indian cricket team was unbeaten throughout the tournament, winning 10 games but lost to Australia in the final of the ODI World Cup. In Rahul Dravid’s last tournament with the Indian cricket team, he finished unbeaten and ended India’s ICC trophy drought by winning the T20 World Cup.