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T20 World Cup 2024: Why ICC trophy is the biggest farewell gift to Dravid

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T20 World Cup 2024 Why ICC trophy is the biggest farewell gift to Dravid. Photo: X

T20 World Cup 2024 Why ICC trophy is the biggest farewell gift to Dravid. Photo: X

5 min read Last Updated : Jun 29 2024 | 11:57 PM IST


In a video released by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on the Indian cricket team’s head coach Rahul Dravid’s journey, he says, “I have really enjoyed myself, I think it has been a great learning experience for me.”


He further explains, “The kind of people I have had the pleasure of working with, including my coaching staff and support staff, I think they are the fondest memories I will take back with me. Those connections are what will last longer after I forget and remember some of the results which include the wins and the losses.”

For a person who has devoted his life to learning and shies away from the outcomes, Dravid did exceedingly well as a player and a coach. But the fact that he has not had success in an ICC tournament is a loss not personally for him but for all the people of the nation who love the gentleman’s game.


When did Dravid come close to winning the ICC trophy?

Dravid was in the Indian team for the ICC Knockout Trophies and the World Cups in 1999 and 2003. However, India did not succeed at these events. He made brilliant contributions during all these tournaments, even changing his role from a pure batter to a wicket-keeper batter for the sake of team combination, always keeping the team primary and himself secondary.

Dravid’s career in ICC Tournaments 


ICC Tournament
Mat
Inns
NO
100s
50s
4s
6s
HS
Runs
Avg
S/R
Ca
St

1997-1998 Akai-Singer Champions Trophy
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
31
31
31
68.89
0
0

1999 ICC World Cup
8
8
1
2
3
49
1
145
461
65.86
85.53
2
0

2000-2001 ICC Knock-Out
4
4
1
0
2
19
0
68*
157
52.33
74.41
1
0

2002-2003 ICC Champions Trophy
5
2
0
0
1
8
0
71
120
60
81.08
5
0

2002-2003 ICC World Cup
11
10
5
0
2
21
1
62
318
63.6
64.11
15
1

2004 ICC Champions Trophy
2
2
1
0
1
7
1
67
97
97
78.23
3
0

2006-2007 ICC Champions Trophy
3
3
0
0
1
13
0
52
105
35
78.95
3
0

2006-2007 ICC World Cup
3
3
1
0
1
6
1
60
81
40.5
72.32
0
0

2009-2010 ICC Champions Trophy
3
2
0
0
1
5
0
76
80
40
76.19
2
0

Total
40
35
9
2
12
129
4
145
1450
55.76
 
31
1


However, he was given the reins of the team in the 2007 ODI World Cup and to date that remains India’s worst-ever performance in an ODI World Cup since winning the Cup for the first time in 1983. That was in the West Indies and that is why it will be perfect timing to try and recreate a new memory for the Wall of Indian Cricket to remember the West Indies.


Sudden retirement from white-ball cricket


After voluntarily choosing not to play in the T20 World Cup 2007 and being sidelined from the ODI setup after the 2009 Champions Trophy, in August 2011, Dravid, after receiving a surprise recall during the ODI series against England, declared his retirement from ODIs as well as Twenty20 International (T20I).


It was in 2011 that India managed to win the ODI World Cup after a gap of 28 years. Once again, Dravid missed out. In March 2012, he announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket.


Did it as a U19 coach


Though he was not able to win the World Cup as a player, Dravid did it as a coach in 2018 after having failed to do it in the 2016 Under-19 World Cup when the Ishan Kishan-led team lost in the final to West Indies.


As a coach, Dravid was unable to win the ICC Test Championship, unable to lift the T20 World Cup 2022 and the ODI World Cup 2023. But he had the chance to repeat the feat of Under-19 in the T20 World Cup format and it was not a surprise that he repeated the feat.


The Cup would not be a gift very possessive for Dravid who looks to enjoy the moments and learn from them rather than delve into losses and wins, but it would be a tribute from the cricket-loving fraternity to a thorough gentleman who gave his all for the game he loved. Good boys do finish first, must be true for this wall of Indian cricket as well.

First Published: Jun 29 2024 | 11:57 PM IST

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