‘I almost forgot that I was actually a cricket player’ – Rahul Dravid on serving as coach for Indian team

India’s head coach and former batter Rahul Dravid recently got candid with India Today as he recalled his days as a cricketer. Rahul Dravid feels he has almost forgotten how he was as a batsman, and now focuses on helping the young cricketers perform better for the team. 

Notably, before being designated as the head coach of the Indian cricket team, Rahul Dravid was serving as a senior coach for the under-18 men’s cricket team, which did wonders under him. The Indian cricket team has fared well under Rahul Dravid till now and will hope to lift the ODI World Cup once again, after 12 years. 

“It is a long time since I was a player. I almost forgot that I was actually a cricket player at one stage to be very honest with you. I have moved on from that. I don’t think of myself as a player anymore. Maybe that’s the mind-space difference. I am focused on helping the group to do the best they can,” said Rahul Dravid. 

Rahul Dravid on helping the youngsters perform better in the Indian team

“I mean in the end that’s the job of the support staff, the job of the coach really is to support the vision of the captain and help him execute his vision over the course of the next couple of months and hope we can do that really well,” he added. 

Rahul Dravid also discussed Shubman Gill’s health update since he is down with a fever and is expected to miss India’s first match of the ODI. World Cup 2023 against Australia On 8 October, he said, “He’s certainly feeling better today. The medical team is monitoring on a daily basis. We have 36 hours, we’ll see what decision they take. He’s certainly feeling better today. The medical team hasn’t ruled him out as yet. We’ll keep monitoring him on a day-to-day basis. We’ll see how he feels the day after tomorrow.”