The West Indies were ready to create history with South Africa in the T20 World Cup final. The match was extremely thrilling and sometimes the match was seen going in Team India’s favour and sometimes in South Africa’s favour. At many occasions, the match was clearly seen slipping out of Team India’s hands. Especially when Heinrich Klaasen turned the tables of the match by scoring 24 runs in a single over of Akshar Patel.
After this, South Africa needed only 30 runs from the last 30 balls and a great batsman like David Miller was present at the crease along with Klaasen. Then it seemed that Team India was going to make a hat-trick of losing the World Cup finals in a single year. While the Indian players were competing fiercely on the field, a person was quietly keeping an eye on the match outside the field.
Team India’s head coach Rahul Dravid looked very calm amidst all the ups and downs of the match. Just like he used to look on the field while playing. Anyway, this was Dravid’s last big match as a coach. With a lot of pain in his heart, Dravid was probably waiting not only for the last ball of the match but also for his luck to change. Under Dravid’s coaching, Team India had lost the chance to become the world champion on two big occasions in this year. Team India did reach the World Cup finals of both Test and ODI, but Australia shattered all the dreams of the Indian team both times. When the threat of defeat loomed in the final of the T20 World Cup, the worries of coach Dravid along with the team started increasing.
The regret of not being able to win the ICC World Cup despite coming close to victory several times had become long-standing.
After becoming the ODI World Champion in 2011, Team India has reached the final of the ICC World Cup on four occasions. These include the 2014 T20 World Cup, the 2021, 2023 Test World Championships and the 2022 ODI World Cup final.
Dravid’s West Indies connection
Rahul Dravid could never fulfill his dream of becoming a world champion as a player but as a coach he finally tasted the glory of being a champion. For this Dravid had to wait a long time and he got the crown on the same land of West Indies where he had once shed tears. Tears were shed this time too but these were tears of joy but what happened in 2007 was like a nightmare for Dravid and Team India.
Then India lost to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh
In the 2007 ODI World Cup held in West Indies, Team India went as a strong contender under the leadership of Rahul Dravid. But the performance of the team was so poor that it was eliminated in the group stage itself. Team India had to face a crushing defeat from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. This angered Indian cricket fans. Protests were held against the Indian team all over the country. Effigies of many cricketers including captain Rahul Dravid and Mahendra Singh Dhoni were burnt.
Dhoni made India a champion in 2007 itself
Rahul Dravid had to lose the captaincy. However, in 2007 itself, when the first T20 World Championship was played in South Africa, Team India became the champion under Dhoni’s captaincy. Then the World Cup trophy was won after 24 years, i.e. after 1983. After 17 years, when Team India became the T20 World Champion again, the ground was in West Indies and in the final, the opponent was the team of South Africa.
17 years ago in the West Indies, Captain Dravid had tears of defeat in his eyes, this time in the same West Indies, Coach Dravid had tears of joy in his eyes. Now call it the end of exile or something else, but Rahul Dravid will end his innings as a coach only after winning the crown for the team.
Tags: ICC T20 world cup, india vs south africa, Rahul Dravid, T20 World Cup, Team India
FIRST PUBLISHED : June 30, 2024, 07:19 IST