Man of Rahul Dravid’s stature doesn’t need any advice, he is the right guy to replace me, reckons Ravi Shastri
Rahul Dravid's caochng stint will start with the home series against New Zealand from November 17
|| Twitter Image
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has said that his successor Rahul Dravid doesn’t need any advice from him as Dravid is an experienced man in the coaching department. Shastri’s tenure ended with India crashing out of the ongoing T20 World Cup, following defeats against Pakistan and New Zealand.
India tasted a lot of success in bilateral cricket and suffered heartbreaks in the ICC events. The team won two back-to-back Test series in Australia in 2018-19 and 2020-21. In September this year, India were leading the five-match Test Series against England on their home soil 2-1 before the final match was postponed due to Covid-19 outbreak in the Indian camp. They won their first-ever ODI and T20I series in South Africa in 2018 and won an ODI series in New Zealand in 2019 after 10 years. They also won their first bilateral ODI series in Australia in 2019. Year before this, they won their maiden T20I series in England.Â
As far as ICC tournaments are concerned, the Virat Kohli-led side made it to the semi-final of the ODI World Cup in 2019 before losing to New Zealand. They also lost the final of the first ever World Test Championship earlier this year to the same opponents. Few days back, the team crashed out of the T20 World Cup from the Super 12 stage. The only multi-nation tournament India won in Shastri’s tenure was the Asia Cup 2018 in the UAE.Â
Meanwhile, the 1983-World Cup winner, in an interaction with India Today, praised Rahul Dravid and wished him luck for his job.Â
"A man of his stature, he has been very hands-on and done a lot of coaching with the India A team and the NCA. For him, it's an automatic switch. Just the right guy to replace me. I wish him all the luck and I don't think he needs any advice, he is far too experienced for that. He has a mind of his own and will get the job done. He has inherited a great cricket team," the 1983-World Cup winner said.
The 59-year-old added that was asked about the differences of personality between him and Dravid to which he said that the former India skipper would do a better job than him. He further added that back-to-back wins in Australia was special.
"The basics are still the same. The team is the same. He will probably do as good or even better job than me," the 59-year-old added.
Shastri said that the Test series wins in Australia and leading England 2-1 are the highlights of his tenure. "The highs, it has to be Australia, just cannot take that away. Back to back wins in Australia after almost 70 years is something that was unimaginable. Makes it extremely special. And of course, leading the series in England."
