'Everyone else in the world is now having to catch up': Ex-head coach Rahul Dravid credits Rohit Sharma for India batting's T20 evolution

India’s T20 World Cup 2024-winning captain Rohit Sharma has earned praise from former head coach Rahul Dravid for a drastic change in the batting lineup’s approach in the format. Rohit had already revealed that he decided that the approach needs to change after the drubbing against England in T20 World Cup 2022 semifinal. The change in approach worked as India ended in the ICC drought in Barbados with a thrilling win against South Africa.

Dravid feels that all the teams in the world are currently playing catch up with India as they have been posting big totals on the board.

“India is absolutely changing what T20 cricket is like. Indian batting in T20 cricket at the moment is off the charts. It’s close to 300 (runs per game), and everyone else in the world is now having to catch up. In the space of three or four years, you’re seeing that everyone’s looking at India and saying, ‘Shucks man, we’ve got to match this,'” Dravid said in an interview with Breakfast with Champions.

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Rohit deserves ‘large cricket’

Dravid said that he had discussions with Rohit regarding the aggressive brand of cricket and replicated it on the field. The 52-year-old is happy that the current team has carried forward the approach.

“Certainly, from the time I came in, a lot of the discussion with Rohit was around how we wanted to play a more aggressive brand of cricket, and we tried (to do just that). We started right from the beginning because we could see that that’s the way the game was evolving, and Rohit’s got to take a large credit for that, right? To move the team in a particular direction. Play the game in a lot more aggressive and a lot more positive manner. “I’m glad that India have sort of kept going in that direction to the point where India’s kind of lately,” Dravid said.

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‘It has to be drive by the captain’ - Rohit

Rohit retired as the highest run-scorer in T20I cricket. He further lauded him for taking the risks and walking the talk.

“It has to be driven by the leaders, right? It has to be driven by the captain. It has to be driven by the players because they’ve got to do it, right? They’ve got to take the risks. You might be giving them a certain amount of security, but in the end, they are the ones who’ve got to take those chances, take those risks,” Dravid added.