Ahead of the T20 World Cup final, indian coach Rahul Dravid downplayed the narrative of the Indian team “doing it for him”.
The 2024 T20 World Cup will mark the end of Rahul Dravid’s stint as head coach of India Senior Men. The World Cup final against South Africa at Bridgetown will be India’s last game with him in charge. He had assumed responsibilities after the 2021 edition of the same tournament.
During Dravid’s stint, India finished runners-up at the 2021-23 World Test Championship as well as the 2023 World Cup. At the T20 World Cup, they had reached the semi-final in 2022 and the final in 2024. They are also at the top of the points table of the 2023-25 WTC. Before that, he had coached India Under-19 to the 2016 and 2018 World Cup final: they won the latter.
Dravid plays down social media trend
Ahead of the final, the hashtag #DoItForDravid, a testimony to the legacy of one of India’s finest cricketers and most successful captains, trended on social media.
When asked about his thoughts on the trend, however, Dravid downplayed it: “It’s totally against who I am as a person and totally against my values. You know, I don’t really believe in all this ‘do it for somebody’.
“I love that quote about somebody asking someone: ‘Why do you want to climb Mt Everest?’ He says, ‘I wanna climb Mt Everest because it’s there.’ Why do we want to win the World Cup? Because it’s there. It’s not for anyone, for anybody: it’s for there to win. We wanna play good cricket.”
True to his gentlemanly nature, #TeamIndia coach #RahulDravid remains humble as he responds to the nation's cry to 'Do It For Dravid'!
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) June 28, 2024
Will the #MenInBlue continue their top form & give THE WALL a special farewell? 😍#Final 👉 #INDvSA | TOMORROW, SAT, 6PM | #T20WorldCupOnStar pic.twitter.com/uB3QVps7Dm
Dravid’s response won accolades, particularly from R Ashwin, who felt that “narratives of building it up for someone in a team sport is the worst thing that can happen for a healthy team environment.”
Narratives of building it up for someone in a team sport is the worst thing that can happen for a healthy team environment.
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) June 29, 2024
I know this man really well and despite being offered the narrative, he turns it down in a classy manner. 👌👌
Let’s fight once more.🙌🏻🙌🏻… https://t.co/9MlgEWLDsa
“I’ve been lucky enough to know you, to work with you, and I’m not surprised with this answer at all,” responded Jatin Sapru, the anchor.
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