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Facing the heat

The manner in which Rahul Dravid dealt with players’ injuries ahead of the ICC World T20 lacked sensitivity; he is now under immense pressure to deliver results with the limited resources he has at his disposal

Facing the heat
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The role of coach in Indian cricket has become a very important one. Last year, at around this time, Ravi Shastri was on his last assignment as coach at the ICC World T20, held in the off-shore venues in the United Arab Emirates.

Even before the team had left for Dubai in 2021, Shastri and captain Virat Kohli were feeling the heat. To say the knives were out for Shastri and Kohli would be stating the obvious. Shastri has slipped into his famous job of being a TV expert again while Kohli is back among the runs.

The latest edition of the ICC World T20 begins on October 16 in Australia and ends on November 13. One man who will be feeling the heat Down Under is Rahul Dravid. The job of coach is a very hard one. Pressure of expectations is high, and rightly so, as these days Indian coaches are also paid huge salaries by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

There is a huge difference between Shastri and Dravid. No, one is not talking about their playing styles, but how they handle the team. Shastri had done well to lead Team India to some great wins abroad in tandem with Kohli. The 2021 series result in Tests in Australia was testimony to it.

Just to jog the readers' memory, the knives were out for Shastri and Kohli because through a change in leadership, the BCCI wanted to show its power. It is well-known that the current president of the BCCI, Sourav Ganguly, didn't have much liking for Shastri.

As per latest reports, Ganguly himself will be out of the BCCI soon, and Shastri must be having the last laugh. Dravid knows he is the cynosure now, even though he does not have to go out and bat in Australia. He did all that in his active days with flourish, scoring 13,228 runs in 164 Tests and 10,889 runs in 344 ODIs. He also played 89 matches in the IPL and scored 2,174 runs. These stats are impressive.

However, his role now demands to bring the best out of the team in Australia. They flew out on Thursday and are already Down Under. The India versus Pakistan match, on October 23, is being hyped. So, that will be the first pressure point for Dravid. The way India lost a crucial match to Pakistan in the Asia Cup in the UAE still haunts.

This ICC World T20 is not just about that one match between the arch rivals. There is a lot more at stake. Dravid gives an impression of being a fair man and a fair coach. However, he has been caught plumb leg while speaking on injuries to key players.

A case in point is Jasprit Bumrah, India's top fast bowler who is out with a back stress fracture. Dravid was misleading the fans and media on Bumrah, saying the last word had not been heard on Bumrah's fitness. For someone who has worked in the National Cricket Academy (NCA) before taking over as Team India coach, Dravid would be familiar with players' fitness and so on. His comments/quotes on the serious nature of injury to Bumrah have exposed him as a hollow man.

It took Dravid a long time to reveal Bumrah was finally ruled out, while the whole world knew about it. Whether he was under instructions to keep this under wraps, one is not sure. Insiders say that the BCCI wanted to downplay Bumrah's injury. If Dravid was a party to it, then it's wrong on his part.

A coach has to be honest and transparent. The expectation from Dravid is that he will lead the team from beyond the boundary, with whatever resources available. We saw at the Asia cup recently in the desert venues of the UAE, how India struggled. As much as you can blame captain Rohit Sharma for the fiasco, Dravid also has to be blamed for performing poorly in the Asia Cup. It was meant to be a warm-up for the ICC World T20. That the tournament turned out to be a disaster for India has not been forgotten.

The injury to Bumrah is a serious one. He may take months to recover and regain full fitness. In an age where nothing can be hidden, Dravid dealt with the Bumrah issue in the public domain very poorly. There was no hiding reality. He knew his best bowler had been struggling with his back since the Birmingham Test in July. Agreed, it is the BCCI which takes a call on players' fitness. Dravid could have put his foot down and advised Bumrah to be seen by the best doctors. The NCA seems incapable of doing so.

This is not the first time Dravid has handled injury to a player with callousness. Even when Ravindra Jadeja was injured at the start of 2022, his knee problem was serious. Dravid had apparently told Jadeja if he would get operated at that time, he would be missing out on the ICC World T20. If that be true, it is shocking. A player cannot be flogged when facing fitness issues.

The Indian team is going into this ICC World T20 minus two best bowlers — Bumrah and Jadeja. There is a clear sign that the injuries were not dealt with properly by Dravid. When Dravid was appointed, it was after much cajoling, at around the same time last year. He flew to Dubai to meet the BCCI bosses before taking on the assignment.

Today, the BCCI will not be watching like a mute spectator. The Indian board has financial power but it does want to see the team produce results. After all, not winning an ICC Trophy was the yardstick which the BCCI used to hang Shastri. That the Mumbaikar saw the writing on the wall and never applied for an extension of contract was sensible.

Today, Dravid is in the same situation. He knows he is being watched by millions and his own masters in the BCCI. Between now and the ODI World Cup in 2023, to be hosted by India, Dravid will be spending sleepless nights. Being Team India's coach is a thankless job. Performance is evaluated on a daily basis and the rating for the coach will be on the number of ICC Trophies won!

Cricket fans are sceptical about India doing well in Australia. They have lost faith in the team, which means the leadership plus men. Both Dravid and Rohit Sharma are aware what the expectations are. However, where Dravid faces even more pressure is he was chosen last year with fanfare.

It was as if he would be the messiah. Forget the messiah, it's a mess right now. The bowling is in shambles and many more areas will also come under scrutiny. The advantage with players is that they can be dropped and get picked again by the selectors if they perform. Look at how Dinesh Karthik is back in the team, by sheer weight of performance in the IPL. You can even look at a resurrection of sorts for Shikhar Dhawan who has been picked for a few ODIs in the last few months.

Dravid will not enjoy that luxury, for sure. How he is going to manage the depleted resources will be watched with interest. It is not like GPAs (Graded Point Average) given to students in the semester system. Here, it is the professor or the HOD who is himself under the rating system. Yes, Dravid finds himself in that same situation of being assessed for performance as a leader.

High-performance coaches and directors' jobs are ones of high pressure. Only the best survives, whatever be the sport. By the time the ICC World T20 ends, we may see massive changes even at the helm in the BCCI. If Dada Ganguly goes out, it will become even more tough for Dravid. Big bosses never care while sacrificing staff at the junior level. Perhaps, that is the situation Dravid is facing today. More than the players, the two ICC events from now till 2023 will decide his fate. Good luck, coach.

Views expressed are personal

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