The legendary Rahul Dravid on Sunday said that Indian cricket has evolved into an “extremely powerful” force, thanks to the growing talent pool that now extends to even the remotest corners of the country. Dravid, who masterminded India’s triumph in the T20 World Cup, said a strong club cricket culture has a lot to do with bucking the old trend of city cricketers dominating the passage to the national team. “If you look at Indian cricket today, Indian cricket is extremely strong, it’s extremely powerful. One of the big reasons for that is that talent comes from everywhere, from all over the country,” said Dravid during the 50th year celebration of Mount Joy Cricket Club.

“I think if you go back to the time of say GR Vishwanath or even when I was starting out my career, most of the talent came from the big cities or from few other states.”

“Even if they were talented boys in smaller places, they had to come to the big cities to play cricket. But today I think you see in Indian cricket that boys are coming from everywhere,” he added.

Dravid said it’s getting reflected in the standards of domestic cricket in India.

“You just look at the standard of the Ranji Trophy. In the old days when you played in the South Zone, other than playing Hyderabad or Tamil Nadu, I think it is fair to say, without being disrespectful, that a lot of other teams you could take it not for granted but you could certainly take it a little bit more lightly.

“I don’t think there is any team in the South Zone today that you can walk in and say that you will comfortably beat,” he added.

Hailing the club cricket structure in the country, particularly in Karnataka, Dravid said the system has allowed the sport to remain accessible to all.

“We need clubs to be strong. We need cricket not to be concentrated in the hands of a few people. We need cricket to be egalitarian, we need it to be all over the place.

“You cannot have talent or you cannot have facilities concentrated only in one or two places. To get the best out of talent, we need to ensure that young boys and girls are getting access to good infrastructure in every part,” he noted.

The 51-year-old former Indian captain then briefly revisited his club career when he was young to underscore the need for that system to thrive.

“After the practice, HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) would give us two eggs and one small glass of milk. I would always stay back for that glass of milk and those eggs. Not because I wanted the milk and eggs.

“But because I wanted to sit and listen to the likes of BK Kumar or Nandan talking about cricket. And it used to be great fun to listen to them and learn so much from them,” said Dravid.

Former India captain Rahul Dravid was on Friday announced as the head coach of the Indian Premier League team Rajasthan Royals on a multi-year contract. Dravid’s tenure as India’s head coach ended in June with the team winning the T20 World Cup for the second time. PTI had reported a few days ago that Dravid was set for his next move to RR. “The former Royals’ captain and coach spent five seasons with the franchise from 2011 to 2015, and will commence with the team immediately, working with Royals’ director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara to implement the franchise’s overall cricketing strategy,” the franchise said in a statement.

Dravid has coached Rajasthan Royals in 2014 and has held different roles with the India U-19 team as well as at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.

“His exceptional coaching capabilities are evident with the transformation he’s driven in Indian cricket. He also has a deep connection to the franchise, and we’ve seen that passion come through in all our conversations,” Jake Lush McCrum, CEO of the Royals Sports Group said.

“Rahul has already got to work with Kumar (Sangakkara) and the rest of the team, as we prepare for this exciting new period for the franchise starting with IPL retention and the auction just around the corner,” he said.

“After the World Cup, I feel it’s the ideal time for me to take on another challenge, and the Royals is the perfect place to do that,” Dravid said.

“We have made fantastic progress in our on-field performance over the past few years, but there is still lots to learn, improve and grow. His return will, hopefully, further accelerate our progress and will be a great boost for everyone involved, most importantly our players and our fans,” said lead owner Manoj Badale.

Sangakkara said, “Rahul is one of the greatest players to have played the game, but what he has achieved over the past decade as a coach is extraordinary.” “The characteristics that he possesses as a coach to nurture talent but also enable them to consistently perform at the highest level, will allow the Rajasthan Royals to further challenge for the title,” he added.

The legendary Rahul Dravid acknowledged that sometimes a little bit of luck can heavily impact the outcome of big matches, citing India’s heartbreaking defeat in the ODI World Cup final to Australia and his side’s sensational triumph from a precarious position against South Africa in the T20 World Cup final. India had stormed into the ODI World Cup final last year with a 10-match winning streak but when the tournament’s best team bumped into Australia in the title clash, nothing worked.

Six months later, skipper Rohit Sharma and Dravid combined to complete the unfinished business. A formidable South Africa stood between them and the trophy but the luck smiled on them.

Having drawn lessons from the incredible highs and lows, Dravid on Wednesday recalled how crucial it was for the team to stick to the cliched process and hope for luck to favour them against the Proteas at Barbados on June 29.

“I’ve had time to reflect on it. I’ve had time to reflect on a lot of things we’ve done. You do realise, sometimes, you have to do a lot of these things, you have to do the process, you have to do everything right,” Dravid, who was chosen for Life Time Achievement honour during the Ceat Cricket Rating Awards, said.

“Sometimes at the end of the day, you need a little bit of luck. (Against South Africa in T20WC final)… 30 balls to go, 30 runs to go. (It was about) incredible execution, incredible calmness by Rohit.” “We didn’t focus on what we needed to do, but we needed a guy who could keep his foot within one inch of a line. Sometimes (it is) the skill,” he said without mentioning Suryakumar Yadav’s juggling act at the ropes to complete David Miller’s dismissal.

That catch had tilted the match in India’s favour.

Dravid then recalled how India were close to dismissing Travis Head in the ODI World Cup final but the opener rode on his tremendous luck to come up with a match-winning century, single-handedly crushing a billion hopes.

“(On) 19th November… I remember whatever it was, we beat Travis Head’s bat 15 times – he didn’t touch a single ball. You know, things can go your way sometimes, but you have to stick to the process,” the articulate Dravid circled back to sticking to the basics.

Dravid retired as India’s coach following the title triumph.

Extolling India’s bench strength and the ability to churn out high-quality cricketers consistently, Dravid said the next generation of players have successfully carried forward the legacy of the ‘Fab Five’.

Dravid himself, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman were part of the Fab-five that wowed the cricket fans globally.

“I left in 2011-2012. These players have been able to carry the legacy forward. If you just look at the success that we’ve had over the last 12 years in all the three formats of the game, the time that after we left, it’s been absolutely phenomenal,” he said.

“Very easily, clearly in a lot of the rankings, we’re always (No.) 1 or 2… we’re always up there with anyone. To be able to go out and win that, just the kind of cricket that we play, the level of skill of some of our players, the way that they approach the game, is great,” he said.

Dravid hoped Team India will continue to have success in the coming years.

“I have no doubt that this generation of players, led by people like Rohit and Surya and the (other) guys coming forward in all formats of the game is only going to continue to do that in the future,” he said.

Dravid said while Indian cricketers now are fearless and confident, they also have world-class infrastructure to back their skill sets.

“A lot of them are really fearless. The confidence of a young Indian, and I don’t mean just cricketers, that’s just great. It just gladdens your heart so much.

“The opportunities that young Indians have today. It’s just nowhere in the world. You feel like maybe even growing up at times that you could have your talent and you had abilities, but sometimes you didn’t have the support or the infrastructure to be able to achieve your dreams.” “Today, none of the Indians can say that. All of them have this great infrastructure, great support and it shows in the way they carry themselves and expect the best out of themselves.

Dravid said the Indian players now see themselves as leaders and that was a great change in the terms of thinking.

“Young India expects they can be world-class, they can be world-leaders, and that is a phenomenal change from the time that I was a young man,” he said.

Former Indian skipper and head coach Rahul Dravid opened up on his celebrations while lifting the ICC T20 World Cup this year in his final coaching assignment with the Men in Blue, saying that his joyous, energetic celebrations was just “happiness and relief coming out”. When India lifted the Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 trophy, their first senior ICC title in 11 years, on 29 June, the usually reserved Rahul Dravid joined the revelry and let out a celebratory outburst after being invited on the stage by the players.

Looking back at the occasion, Dravid revealed that it was a spontaneous reaction informed by his joy for his players and the support staff.

“It just comes out. You do not plan these things,” Dravid said during a Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) interview with Star Sports as quoted by ICC.

“You do not think about these things. Most times, I try to keep my emotions in check as a coach. You are expected to do that. To be honest, I felt really happy for the team. I felt happy for all the boys, for the support staff, and so many people who had worked hard along with me,” he added.

Dravid added that more than anything else, it was relief over India’s triumph, after their recent near-misses in the ICC tournaments. In 2023 itself, India made the finals of two senior Men’s ICC events, the World Test Championship final and the Cricket World Cup, but lost to Australia on both occasions.

“Not only in that tournament. I had been around for two and a half to three years. And we had come close a number of times: the semi-finals of the last T20 World Cup in Australia [in 2022], the finals of the World Test Championship, and the 50-over World Cup in India,” said Dravid.

“And we were just not able to cross the line at the critical moment We were playing good cricket, we were playing strength to strength. But even in those situations, you need a bit of luck, a bit of destiny to go your way and I think that was with us. In some other tournaments, unfortunately, it was not with us. A lot of that was that happiness and relief coming out,” he concluded.

Prior to his stint as the India coach, Rahul Dravid had also won the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2018 as the head coach of India U19s.