Rahul Dravid‘s tenure as head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team will come to an end after Saturday’s T20 World Cup final against South Africa in Barbados. Under Dravid’s leadership, India has had a remarkable run across formats, but have failed to clinch an ICC trophy. Ahead of his departure, a campaign is being run for Dravid on social media saying that Team India must give a memorable farewell to him by winning the T20 World Cup. The #DoItForDravid campaign has garnered a lot of attention leading up to the final against the Proteas.
Reacting to the trend, Dravid played down the narrative, saying that it’s against his values. The former India captain insisted he wants to win the T20 World Cup for the nation.
“I just want to play good cricket and yeah, doing it for someone is totally against who I am as a person and what I believe in. So, I don’t want to talk about it and discuss it. I don’t really believe in this ‘Do it for somebody’. I love that quote about somebody asking somebody else, ‘Why do you want to climb Mount Everest?’ and he says ‘I want to climb Mount Everest because it’s there’. I want to win this World Cup because it’s there. It’s not for anyone, it’s not for anybody, it’s just there to win,” Dravid told Star Sports ahead of the final.
Reacting to his remarks, veteran India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin heaped praise on Dravid for turning down the narrative.
Ashwin suggested that building narratives for an individual in a team sport can disrupt the environment inside the dressing room.
“Narratives of building it up for someone in a team sport is the worst thing that can happen for a healthy team environment. I know this man really well and despite being offered the narrative, he turns it down in a classy manner. Let’s fight once more,” Ashwin reacted to a video on X.
Narratives of building it up for someone in a team sport is the worst thing that can happen for a healthy team environment.
I know this man really well and despite being offered the narrative, he turns it down in a classy manner.
Let’s fight once more…. https://t.co/9MlgEWLDsa
— Ashwin (@ashwinravi99) June 29, 2024
For the record, Dravid failed to win a World Cup during his playing days. He came close to lifting the ODI World Cup crown in 2003, but India lost the final to Australia.
