"Hope Rahul Dravid Can...": Brian Lara's Big 'T20 World Cup' Advice For Outgoing India Coach
With Rahul Dravid's tenure as head coach set to end after the T20 World Cup, the former India captain has one final chance to cement his legacy and bow out in style.
The Rohit Sharma-led Indian team will look to end more than a decade long wait for an ICC trophy at the upcoming T20 World Cup, starting June 2 in the West Indies and USA. India last won an ICC trophy in 2013, beating England in the Champions Trophy final under the leadership of MS Dhoni. With Rahul Dravid's tenure as head coach set to end after the T20 World Cup, the former India captain has one final chance to cement his legacy and bow out in style. Last year, Dravid was at the helm as India lost to Australia in the ODI World Cup final.
Ahead of the T20 World Cup, former West Indies captain Brian Lara has shared a piece of advice for Dravid. Lara suggested that due to India's constant faliures in ICC knockout games, Dravid needs to devise a plan to see off the latter stages of the tournament.
"Indian team, just looking from the outside, in previous Cups, be it T20 or 50-overs, I just feel they are lacking that final plan in terms of how they are going to go about. It doesn't matter how many superstars you have; it matters how you are going to go about winning this World Cup, what plans you are going to have in place, and how you are going to structure your innings or attack. I hope Rahul Dravid can get his players together and can devise a plan for India to win T20 World Cup," Lara said on Star Sports.
India will play Bangladesh in their only T20 World Cup warm-up game on Saturday in New York. It is expected that all the players, sans Virat Kohli, could feature as it doesn't have an official status.
India are placed in Group A alongside Pakistan, Ireland, Canada and T20 World Cup co-hosts USA.
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj. Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan.
India Cricket Team
Rohit Sharma
Rahul Dravid