The Indian cricket board (BCCI) shared a link of a heart-warming video of Dravid talking about his time with the team, his achievements and his disappointments.
Former India captain Dravid had left the international stage as a player without a World Cup win.And under Dravid the coach, India became the No. 1 team in both Tests and ODIs with the T20 World Cup title victory coming as the icing on the cake.
Looking back at the pivotal role he played in the evolution of Indian cricket, Dravid says, “I’d like to believe that coaching is not just about coaching cricket. It’s about coaching and building connections with people, creating right environment that allows success. I feel that I’m a part of a team whose responsibility is to create the right professional, safe, secure environment that doesn’t really have a fear of failure as such but is challenging enough to push people. That has always been my endavour to try and create that.”
After the T20 World Cup title victory, India captain Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from T20Is. A rookie Rohit, now 37, was part of the first T20 triumph when India beat arch-rivals Pakistan in the final in Johannesburg in 2007.
Dravid said he will miss Rohit as a person more than just as a captain and player who amassed runs and records.
“I’ve really enjoyed working with Rohit, he’s someone I knew as a young boy, just to see him grow as a person, grow as a leader in Indian cricket, what someone like him has been able to contribute to the team over the last 10-12 years, both as a player and now as a leader, has been a real tribute to him and the effort he has put in, the time he has put in. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know him as a person as well, really enjoyed seeing his commitment, his care to the team, just to try to get the environment right, to try and make it an environment where everyone feels safe, secure, enjoy themselves, while it’s also a very competitive and a professional environment. It’s something that I’ll miss, this connection with Rohit,” Dravid adds.
Dravid also praised Virat Kohli, who also called time on his T20I career and lauded the India superstar for his professionalism and commitment.
“With Virat, during his initial days I had only a couple of series with him as a captain, just a couple of Test matches. But then just getting to know him as well and just to see the way he goes about his business, his professionalism that he continues to display, his desire to improve, his desire to get better, I think it’s simply fascinating for me to watch,” Dravid said.
On the memories that he will carry from his coaching stint, Dravid said, “The kind of people that I’ve had the pleasure of working with, my coaching staff, people who I’ve worked closely with and the support staff as well, the professionalism around them, I think that for me is really the fondest thing I’ll have. I know there have been results, we’ve had some good results and some results have not been that easy, but that’s part and parcel of being a coach and a cricket team. But for me I think the fondest memory that I’ll take is the connections that I’ve built, the friendships that I’ve built, that’ll last long after I forget some of the good results and bad results. And my family as well. Everyone invested in the Indian team over the last two and a half years, I certainly have by being here, but so has my family. Each and every result that the Indian team has been a part of, serves me really nice as well to see how my two young boys have been involved in every result. I have really enjoyed myself, I think it’s been a great learning experience for me, I loved connecting with the team, I loved connecting with the players, some of them I have known earlier, having coached them in Under-19, India A having been there, I had already interacted with most of them before having got here. There have been some new ones as well I have got to know over the last two and a half years. Some of the boys whom I started playing with like Rohit, Virat. For me to see how they’ve grown and they’ve become is also really nice. Got to know them a little more, personally, it’s been quite fantastic. I’ve really enjoyed it, I’ll only take pleasant memories from my two and a half years here with India.”
Former India batsman Gautam Gambhir is widely reported to succeed Dravid as coach of the Indian team.
