Suryakumar Yadav had his Kapil Dev moment when he took David Miller's catch inches inside the boundary rope to ensure India win the T20 World Cup 2024. After the triumph in Barbados on July 29, Suryakumar hailed head coach Rahul Dravid aka ‘The Wall’ who protected the players from the outside noise and expectations.
“Wall kabhi chhupta nahi hai (wall doesn’t hide) (laughs) and Indranagar ke wall ko koi kabhi chhupa nahi sakta hai. He has created a wall which protects us from the expectations of people, pressure, and to provide comfort to the players,” Suryakumar said in a conversation with Indian Express.
Suryakumar recalled what Virat Kohli said about Dravid's coaching style as the latter does not impose his ideas on anyone and maintains a good atmosphere with his sense of humour.
“Virat bhai also said the same thing the other day about “the way you have played and seen cricket in your time and to come out and give the freedom to players in this format …’ If a batsman felt that this is right, he will say ‘ok, if you feel it’s right, you make that decision’. He never imposed his experience on anyone. He understood others and thought about what others were thinking. These are small things that we forget after winning a tournament. His contribution was massive. His sense of humour is awesome,” he said.
The graph before the T20 World Cup 2024
Suryakumar also recalled a graph which Dravid showed to the entire team instilling belief in all 15 members of the squad.
“Before the tournament, he showed a graph of the number of T20 games the entire Indian team had played — from Virat bhai to Yashasvi Jaiswal (the most junior member). That number was 800-plus. And then he showed a second slide that had the number of games that the entire coaching staff, including Rahul bhai, had played — that number was 1. He said to us, ‘You are the best judge here to make the right call at the right time. So leave every other thing to us, go out there and enjoy your game,” the explosive batter said.
The positive vibes of Dravid
The 33-year-old went on to say that Dravid exuded positivity which made everyone turn for the optional practice sessions.
“It spreads positivity. This time, he kept many optional practice sessions but it was the first time everyone wanted to come for an optional practice session. Everyone wanted to spend time with each other. Once he put a message on the group that he was going to the beach and all 15 players were there. There was a different vibe this time,” the 33-year-old added.
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