Former head coach Rahul Dravid said India’s consistent approach helped them win the 2024 T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies and end the 11-year trophy drought. The Men in Blue lost the 2023 ODI World Cup final against Australia but won the T20WC without losing a single game.
"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," Dravid said, as quoted by PTI, at the Ceat Cricket Rating Awards in Mumbai.
"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.”
Even in the ODI World Cup at home, India remained unbeaten till the semis before getting outclassed by Australia in Ahmedabad.
"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," said Dravid.
"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.”
Talking about experiencing a World Cup at home, Dravid said, "To travel all over this country and to be able to experience that joy and passion of the fans.
“I've never been a part of a World Cup as a player in India, but just the experience as a coach to go from city to city and just walk and see what this game meant to the people of this country was phenomenal. It was incredible.”
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