"Can Someone Say Rahul Dravid Did Something Without Planning?" R Ashwin On ODI World Cup Debate
The ODI World Cup 2027 is still more than a year away. While permutations and combinations will change leading up to the marquee event, there seems to be instability surrounding the side
- Rahul Dravid provided stability and long-term planning during his India coaching tenure
- Dravid backed players like Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav
- Post-2023 World Cup planning for the 2027 ODI World Cup was emphasised by Ashwin
The ODI World Cup 2027 is still more than a year away. While permutations and combinations will change leading up to the marquee event, there seems to be instability surrounding the side. What will be the opening partnership, and more importantly, what will be the bowling line-up? While talking about India's ODI series against England, where there was huge scrutiny of Rohit Sharma, former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin talked about the importance of stability. He expressed his preference for former India coach Rahul Dravid.
"Everyone can criticize. But can someone say that Dravid did something without planning, or that someone was dropped out of nowhere without being given a long rope, or that he didn't provide stability? The way he backed Hardik Pandya and used him was remarkable. It was very unfortunate that he got injured in the 2023 World Cup. He backed Shubman Gill as an opening batter. He backed KL Rahul. During Rahul's stint, KL Rahul became one of the best Test batters India had. He gave a long rope to Shardul Thakur at number eight in overseas games. He gave a place to Kuldeep Yadav as the third spinner for India," Ashwin stated on his YouTube channel.
"Players never felt a lack of stability. You can't fault that. I worked closely with him. People can criticize, but they criticize the best in the business too. Tell me one thing: is there anyone who hasn't been criticized? Everything attracts criticism. Leave social media criticism aside. That is not the point. Ask any of the players from Rahul bhai's stint how he was as a coach. Then tell me. Players will tell you. Everybody will. Is there anyone who does everything well?"
He further detailed Dravid's thinking.
"I have said this so many times. When there is a 2027 ODI World Cup on the horizon, once the 2023 World Cup is over, you have to plan how the team will shape up over the next four years. Which combinations to find, who the 50-over specialists are, and whom we are going to back. If the workload is high, while managing that workload, we have to preserve players for ODIs. All this planning should have happened. So who was the coach after 2023? Rahul bhai. Rahul bhai must have asked for plans until 2027. And if not, if Rahul bhai was saying that he would be there only until 2024-25 before leaving, then his planning should have been documented," Ashwin said in a video on his YouTube channel.
He also praised the coordination between Dravid and Centre of Excellence (COE) chief VVS Laxman.
"Exactly. The way you groom players and create options, similarly, the coaching staff also have to be groomed. Under-19 cricket is different. NCA is different. Coaching the Indian team is different. Coaching the India A team is different. There is a lot of difference between the India A coaching setup and the senior team coaching setup. Rahul used to coach here and had a lot of workload. Laxman used to travel to Zimbabwe. We would talk to them. Whether they agreed or not, that is not how it works. But at least we talked. They used to find a middle ground and work together. You don't know how Laxman works. For a Zimbabwe tour or any tour he goes on, he starts preparing 20 days in advance, as if he is going to play himself," Ashwin stated.
Rahul Dravid
Ravichandran Ashwin
India Cricket Team