Team India head coach Rahul Dravid has shown some concern over the team’s lack of practice before the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. India defeated Afghanistan in a nail-biting contest in Bengaluru which went to a second Super Over to decide the winner. India whitewashed Afghanistan 3-0 in the recently concluded T20I series and even though head coach Rahul Dravid was pleased with the series result, he was primarily concerned about his team’s lack of practice time before the global T20 mega event in the USA and the West Indies.
Team India will now face England in a five-match Test series which will be followed by the IPL and right after the cash-rich league, the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 will commence. The Indian team won’t get any more preparation for the T20 World Cup and the players will have to rely on IPL for their match practice. Rahul Dravid talked about how everyone would be watching closely how some of the players perform in the IPL and what slots they need to fill in the team
Rahul Dravid was happy with a few of the bench players’ performances after the 3-0 series victory against Afghanistan, as they have provided additional alternatives to the team ahead of the T20 World Cup in June. India has played 11 T20 internationals since the conclusion of the ODI World Cup in November 2023 and the frontline players were mainly rested in those matches. The Indian think tank was able to examine some of the candidates more closely, including Jitesh Sharma and Shivam Dube. Dravid was quite chuffed at their efforts.
Rahul Dravid Is Impressed With Shivam Dube
“We’ve had different people play after the last ODI World Cup for a variety of reasons. But I think it’s just nice to see that there are some options (ahead of the World Cup) who have put their hand up, and certainly shown that they’ve got skills to address. Some areas we might need some addressing in, and we were thinking about it,” Dravid said.
Shivam Dube was selected as the Player of The Series for scoring 124 runs in three innings which included consecutive half-centuries and also took a couple of wickets with the ball. Rahul Dravid was quite impressed with his performance as Dube is another all-round option. He can be a great addition to the team with Hardik Pandya as the first-choice all-rounder.
“He’s come back after a long time. He’s certainly very much an improved player after coming back. There’s no doubt that he always had the talent, but just really happy to see the way he performed in the series. I’m sure it will give him a lot of confidence as well, you come back in and play a series and you become the man of the series. It’s great and has certainly put his hand up. He’s going to have that opportunity to show it in the IPL again like he did last year,” said Dravid.
Rahul Dravid was announced as Team India’s coach after Ravi Shastri’s stint ended in the year 2022. Since, then the pair of Rahul Dravid and skipper Rohit Sharma has taken India to the semi-finals of the ICC T20 World Cup in 2022, the World Test Championship Finals in 2023, and the finals of the ICC ODI World Cup Finals in 2023. The main aim for the Sharma-Dravid duo is to end India’s long wait for an ICC title and they will give their all in the upcoming T20 World Cup.
