With Rahul Sir, you have to be disciplined. We were a little scared of him. Off the field, he was quite friendly with us, used to join us for dinner. Sitting with a legend like him was a dream come true. Every youngster dreams of that. We toured together with [sir] before the [U-19] World Cup also. He never forced any player to be like him. He didn’t change anything in batting. Told me to stick to my natural game.
This is Prithvi Shaw, 2018 U-19 World Cup-winning captain and India opener, describing his experience of being coached by Rahul Dravid when the latter was India U-19 and India A coach. Dravid, who will take charge as Team India head coach post the ongoing Twenty20 World Cup, will have many youngsters he had worked with in the past and now graduated to the senior team, around him. Familiarising with the players' approach and cricket will not be so time-consuming but, having said that, the demands of elite cricket are entirely different from those at the U-19 level. With India A, on shadow tours to New Zealand and England, Dravid has worked with players on the fringes of selection to the national team or those returning from injury or poor form and waiting for a call-up to the national team. From the likes of Shaw to another opener Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Hanuma Vihari, all have all worked with the former India skipper in the past.
The legend of Dravid the batter has been well-chronicled. During his 16-year international career, he emerged as one of India's and world's finest batter, having orchestrated numerous historic Test and ODI wins for Team India. As coach now, the 48-year-old would be looked upon to steer India towards similar triumphs and, more importantly, ICC trophies, which have eluded India since 2011. The ICC Men's T20 World Cup is set to take place next year in Australia, and the ODI World Cup in India in 2023. Winning these trophies will be India's prime aim.
Dravid's cricket was all about elegance and determination. His coaching philosophy, too, is based on the same ideals, but underlined by a more modern approach. Players and fellow coaches who Dravid has worked with, speak about how "player development" is the focus of Dravid's coaching methodology.
“When we talk of player development, it means maximising an individual's potential. It is done more via discussion; one-on-one talks. He chats a lot with the guys," said a colleague, and a former coach, at the NCA.
Dravid lays great emphasis on "following the process". This, he believes, will automatically take care of the results. "His focus is on team development and if the team follows the processes to excel correctly, the results will automatically come," said a senior coach.
With the junior players, he understood he had to make the first move as most were in awe of him, but even there, he reportedly created a healthy atmosphere where a player could discuss and interact with him freely. "A lot of these discussions were about what a player wants to achieve individually and as a team," said another cricket coach.
Dravid, as a player, was a voracious reader. A lot of his reading was about understanding the mental aspect, which continues to be the fulcrum of his coaching philosophy now.
Dravid is set to have his own team of assistant coaches to help him with Team India. As far as coaches go, a former colleague said: "With coaches, he gives them a free hand. Of course, he discusses with the support staff, holds meetings as to what needs to be done and why. But, he gives a lot of freedom to coaches to achieve their objectives."
As a cricketer, he was well-prepared and well-researched; so is the case as a coach now. "He is data-driven but not totally," said one colleague. It is this ability to be flexible and open-minded that is bound to hold him in good stead as he deals with two different captains of India—Virat Kohli, currently the Test and ODI captain and Rohit Sharma, in all likelihood the next T20I captain.
Post his retirement as a player in 2012, he spent time honing his skills as mentor and coach. Dravid officially began his coaching journey in the IPL when he first took over as a mentor for Rajasthan Royals in 2014. He was then appointed as the head coach of the Indian U-19 team in 2016, while he was also mentoring Delhi Daredevils in the IPL. Under Dravid, Ishan Kishan-led India U-19 side finished runners-up at the World Cup, losing to West Indies. A number of youngsters like Kishan, Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar emerged from the tournament. Two years later, Dravid's wards led by Shaw won the title. The likes of Shubman Gill, Shaw, Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkotti and others emerged from the tournament. Dravid was also the coach of the India A team on tours of England and New Zealand. The likes of Agarwal, Deepak Chahar and Sanju Samson have spoken of the impact he had on their cricket. He then took over as the head of the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru in 2019. He was India's stand-in coach for their limited-overs tour to Sri Lanka earlier this year.
With all his experience as player and coach, and with an insanely talented bunch of young cricketers at his disposal, Dravid has an exciting journey ahead.