India registered a fine series victory over Australia by winning the 4 match Test series 2-1. This Indian team went to a place where no other team had been in the past 32 years. India defeated Australia in their den (Gabba, Brisbane) to notch up a wonderful series victory. The series win was achieved by India even though it missed many of its star players.
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The Indian team was bereft of its key performers like captain Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, pace bowlers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, and Ishant Sharma. It wasn’t as if India had its spin options available. The team missed the star spinning duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. This was essentially a second-string Indian side that achieved the unexpected.
The young guns took the world by storm:
Young guns like Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Shubman Gill, and Rishabh Pant set the stage on fire with their dazzling performances. Aussies were completely taken back by the approach and courage shown by this young Indian team. Cricket lovers and experts across the globe appreciated the efforts of Rahul Dravid, who is currently the coach of India U-19 and India A-team. Dravid had refused to coach the senior Indian team just to ensure that the battery of young Indian cricketers came through India’s U-19 and India-A setup. His efforts have paid huge dividends as the young crop of Indian players brought glory to the nation.
Dravid feels he is getting unnecessary credit:
Dravid being the gentleman that he is refused to take any credit for India’s victory over Australia. He stated that he is receiving unnecessary credit and the players deserve all the applause. Former national selector, Jatin Paranjpe believes that if players at the U-19 level and India-A level are trained by a personality like Dravid and then transitioned to the national team, then those bunch of players are sure to succeed at the highest level.
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Paranjpe went on to add that, “Before such tours, the support staff of the Indian team, A team, U-19 team, selectors, and Dravid discuss which bucket of players we want to concentrate on. The performances in the Ranji Trophy matter in the selection of the A-team. Mayank Agarwal and Vihari were picked from there. The A teams have a great guy like Dravid working with them, from where they go to someone as good as Shastri in the national team. It’s a seamless transition.”
While WV Raman, who had a brief coaching experience with the Indian women’s cricket team added that Dravid believes in giving exposure to young talents rather than focusing on the result of the game. With former legendary players like Rahul Dravid at the helm, Indian cricket surely is in great hands.
