Have India misplaced their combating spirit below head coach Rahul Dravid?

By Priya Nagi: From Ravi Shastri’s tenure to Rahul Dravid, India have seen a drastic change of their method. The 1983 World Cup champion Shastri’s time period as the top coach had a tough begin attributable to controversy surrounding his appointment. It additionally ended on a low observe, however throughout his time, he performed a major function in making India one of many strongest Test cricket groups.

The partnership between Shastri and former India captain Virat Kohli was profitable as a result of they shared a typical imaginative and prescient of being aggressive, profitable away matches, and reaching what earlier India groups had not. They achieved these objectives, most notably with a historic collection win in Australia in 2018-19, the place India grew to become the primary Asian group to beat Australia in their very own yard.

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Shastri managed to repeat this achievement in 2020-21, even with out Kohli. India additionally reached the ultimate of the inaugural World Test Championship however misplaced to New Zealand.

Despite this, India’s performances each at house and overseas helped them keep the primary rating on this planet for 42 months, from 2016 to 2020. While Shastri could have overstated India’s standing as one of many biggest groups ever, they definitely made vital progress below his steerage.

The exit of Shastri, who guided India to take a 2-1 lead within the Test collection in opposition to England in 2021 earlier than the Covid-19 restrictions prevented the groups from taking part in the fifth match, marked the entry of Rahul Dravid and noticed an immediate dip in India’s combating spirit.

Dravid assumed the function of head coach in November 2021, after India’s disappointing exit from the T20 World Cup. His first project was the Test collection in opposition to New Zealand, the place India managed a 1-0 victory with Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli captaining alternate matches.

Unfortunately, India struggled within the away Test collection in opposition to South Africa, shedding 1-2. This collection additionally marked the tip of Kohli’s captaincy tenure. Dravid was then offered with one other alternative to finish what Shastri had began, however India, led by Jasprit Bumrah, have been outplayed by England in Birmingham, leading to a drawn collection.

India did handle to fare higher within the away collection in opposition to Bangladesh, profitable 2-0. However, the victory masked the struggles they confronted, notably within the second Test, the place they narrowly escaped a draw with the assistance of Ravichandran Ashwin and Shreyas Iyer. India continued their momentum within the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, taking an early 2-0 lead. However, when Steve Smith stood in as captain for Australia within the third Test, India did not match their opponent’s combating spirit. Despite profitable the collection 2-1, India’s aggressive method remained elusive.

In the extremely anticipated ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final, India’s passive method backfired as Australia dominated and defeated them by 209 runs, changing into the primary group to win ICC titles in all three codecs.

Dravid’s tenure as head coach noticed a decline in India’s combating spirit, leading to blended performances and missed alternatives. The group struggled to match the aggressive method exhibited by their opponents in essential matches, finally resulting in disappointing outcomes in essential competitions.