Former India head coach Rahul Dravid said that working with Rohit Sharma made his job much easier during India’s successful 2024 T20 World Cup campaign. Dravid explained that Rohit’s clarity as captain helped his message reach the players smoothly and without confusion.
Rahul Dravid on Rohit Sharma's captaincy
Dravid was India’s head coach for almost three years and ended his tenure on a high, guiding the team to the T20 World Cup title in the Americas under Rohit’s leadership. After the tournament, Gautam Gambhir took over as India’s new head coach.
Rohit is widely known for his friendly nature and easy-going relationship with teammates. His ability to connect with players helped create a positive team environment, making it simpler to discuss improvements and expectations within the squad.
"When your leader stands up and says, 'I'm the one who will do that at the cost of sometimes my so-called average and the runs that I may score', it's a lot easier to pass that message (to teammates). The fact that he led the whole thing, you know, made your (coach's) job that much easier," said the legendary Dravid at a function organised by the Karnataka State Cricket Association.
"He showed the way," Dravid added.
Dravid on Rohit's game adaptation
Dravid further revealed that Rohit quickly recognised that Indian white-ball cricket needed to evolve and he was someone who took the responsibility for driving the game forward.
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"I think the easy part in this thing was working with Rohit, someone who himself really had quite a dispute with him. He was also recognising that the game was changing.
"I think, you know, the nature of batsmanship in white-ball cricket over the last 10 years or so... everything had started to change. In some ways, there was a feeling that we were slightly behind and we needed to get better at that. We needed to push the envelope a little bit more.
"We needed to take a few more risks. Run rates were going up. All of these things were going up. So, it was then actually just very easy to have that conversation with him. I think, he was completely on board. He was someone who took the responsibility of setting the game forward," said Dravid.
Lauding Rohit's batting, Dravid said the former skipper adapted brilliantly to the demands of the modern game.
"He (Rohit) already had a phenomenal record. I mean, his performances in the 2019 World Cup were absolutely phenomenal. Five hundreds and, you know, playing at a certain tempo. But that tempo needed to change."
Notably, Rahul Dravid's tenure as head coach ended after India's T20 World Cup 2024 win and Rohit Sharma also announced his retirement from the shortest format of the game after guiding India to the second T20 World Cup title.