Cricket News By TODAYLIVESCORE.INFO - 'Dravid was always a team man, and that's the culture he wants to bring in'. KL Rahul believes India will forge a strong sense of team culture under Rahul Dravid
KL Rahul believes India will forge a strong sense of team culture under Rahul Dravid
“The next few days or weeks will be exciting.”
That was how KL Rahul, India's new T20I vice-captain, described the change in the leadership group as India begin life under the Rahul Dravid-Rohit Sharma era in the shortest format with the series against New Zealand starting Wednesday (November 17) in Jaipur.
Having just completed an underwhelming T20 WC campaign, plans are expected to be afoot for the next edition of the tournament in Australia that is less than a year away. Rahul said India's T20 template, the brand of cricket their new captain-coach combine have envisioned for the team, will become evident over the coming days.
“There's nothing new about Rohit being captain,” Rahul said in a press conference two days out from India's first T20I against New Zealand. “For as long as I can remember, he's been Mumbai Indians' captain, and his stats are there for everybody to see. He has a great understanding of the game and tactically he's really, really good, and that's why he's been able to achieve the kind of things that he has as a leader.
“The next few weeks or the next few days will be exciting, to understand what kind of goals he has and what kind of culture and, I got asked this question before, what kind of template we're looking to play. The more we talk to him in the next couple of days, I'll also understand it better and maybe be able to give you that answer the next time I have this conversation. It's a big change in Indian cricket, so we're all looking forward and [are] really excited about it.
“We all enjoy watching Rohit bat and we all enjoy having him in the dressing room. He's a great guy to be around, so I'm sure he's excited and all of us in the team are excited to play under Rohit and he'll bring a lot of calm into the dressing room,” Rahul added.
From his experience with Dravid in the India A team, Rahul also expected the new head coach to underscore a team-before-self culture in the set-up.
“When it comes to coaching, I've played a couple of games with the India A set-up [under Dravid], and we've had a small chat just before coming out here for training, and he's somebody who's big on setting a good team culture and creating an atmosphere where people are thriving and trying to get better as people and as cricketers,” Rahul said. “He's always been a team man when he was playing, and that's the kind of culture he wants to bring in here as well, where everyone's putting the team ahead of personal goals.
“I've been very fortunate that I've known him for a very long time. Obviously, as a youngster I did try and pick his brain and I did understand the game better, and understand the art of batting better from [having talked to] him, and he's been more than kind and he's been very helpful to all of us back home in Karnataka.
“Obviously, since he's finished playing he's been [coaching] different teams and he's been helping the boys around the country, so to have him here with this set-up is a great opportunity for all of us to learn from him. We all know what a big name Rahul Dravid is in Indian cricket and the kind of things he has done for our country. So it'll be a great opportunity and great time for all of us to learn from him and get better as cricketers and understand the game better, and understand the game from his point of view.”
