Time has come to have a proper look at where this current Indian cricket set up is heading under the guidance of Rahul Dravid. The legendary India wicket-keeper batter was successful during his time at the NCA (National Cricket Academy) with the juniors. But his stint with the senior team is yet to taste a major success.
The previous head coach Ravi Shastri was confident that his successor will move Indian cricket forward from where he left but in the last year we have not certainly seen that.
Let us find 3 major differences between Rahul Dravid and Ravi Shastri’s coaching style-
#1 Difference in aggression
Dravid as a player and the captain of Indian team, preferred to play the game safe, being the coach, his thinking has not changed. Shastri was the one, who was way more aggressive in the approach and matched mentality with then captain of India Virat Kohli. From dropping vice captain of the side Ajinkya Rahane if needed, to not giving playing time to Samson and Ruturaj, we can get the difference in mindset of both of them.
#2 Balance in the team combination under Rahul Dravid
Dravid prefers to have a batting deep side with plenty of all rounders get chances. Likes of Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, and even Axar Patel are getting plenty of matches because of their handy batting alongside bowling.
In the recently concluded Test series, Kuldeep Yadav was dropped from the side in the second game even after winning the man of the match award in the previous test. Axar got the nod because of his batting capabilities. On the other hand, Shastri preferred genuine bowlers more than all rounders. Bumrah, Shami, Prasidh Krishna, Natarajan all flared under Kohli-Shastri’s management.
3. Announcing the first XI
Shastri’s aggression was ruthless. In those days, India used to announce the starting eleven a day before the Test match to tell they are ready to take the opposition on. This had become something of a habit that the fans too were enjoying.
Dravid is not quite the same to take that much of risk. At times, he even changes his team in the morning of the matchday. Some of the decisions that he has made during this time have not really helped his case. Weird calls at the end of the day, leaving fans bamboozled.
