Published: Nov 16, 2021, 05:52 PM (IST)
Edited: Nov 16, 2021, 05:52 PM (IST)
Jaipur: Former India captain Rahul Dravid has officially taken over as the head coach of the Indian cricket team, and his first assignment in the upcoming three-match T20I series against New Zealand, starting on November 17 – Wednesday. Addressing the media through a virtual press conference ahead of the first match, Dravid was joined by Team India’s new T20I captain – Rohit Sharma. The duo spoke about a range of issues from players’ workload management to separate teams for different formats. This was the first time when Rahul Dravid spoke at a press conference after he replaced Ravi Shastri as the coach of the Men in Blue.
Apart from giving an insight about his vision of Team India, the former NCA Director – Dravid also spoke about maintaining workload management in these challenging times. Rohit and Dravid both spoke about the importance of following their own template in T20I cricket and not looking at what other teams are doing.
“We just need to set the template right, and we have got some time to do that. India have been brilliant in T20Is but it’s just that we haven’t won an ICC tournament. We have played and performed well as a team. We will be looking to fill some holes in the team. I’m not saying we should follow a certain team’s template. We should set our own template, which suits the best for us,” said Rohit on the eve of the T20I series opener against New Zealand.
Rohit also insisted Kane Williamson’s absence from the series won’t affect their planning against other New Zealand players. “We have to focus on every New Zealand player. They had different players who performed during the T20 World Cup. Kane Williamson will be missed by them but they have other match-winning players.”
📸 📸: Some snapshots from #TeamIndia‘s 1⃣st practice session in Jaipur last evening. #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/LcQsQVVNuR
BCCI (@BCCI) November 16, 2021
Head coach Dravid believes that New Zealand can’t be called underdogs all the time. “New Zealand are a very, very good side, make no mistake about it. You don’t need me to say that. It’s almost become fashionable to call them underdogs but that narrative has changed. They have beaten us in big games but therein lies an opportunity for us.”
At the same time, Dravid emphasised on workload management to keep players fit and fresh ahead of big tournaments. “Workload management is an important aspect of cricket. We see that in football as well. The mental and physical well-being of players will be a priority. We need to do a balancing act, have to work towards having players fit for the big tournaments.
“Workload management is important. Players aren’t machines. We want all our players fresh for the challenges ahead. It’s very simple, we have to monitor every series we play,” said Dravid.
