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Rahul Dravid (Source - Hindustan Times)
Former India coach Rahul Dravid is set to take over the coaching responsibilities of the Rajasthan Royals as per reports. It was under Dravid that India won the T20 World Cup 2024 in late June by beating South Africa in the finals. The 51-year-old recently sat down and spoke to ESPNCRICINFO for a chat and also spoke about the lowest point of his coaching stint.
“If you ask me what is the lowest point, I would say the South Africa Test series early on in my career. We won the first Test match in South Africa in Centurion, and then we were playing in the second and third Test match” said Rahul Dravid.
Team India toured South Africa towards the end of 2021 and the start of 2022. After winning the first Test at the Centurion, the visiting side lost the next two matches at Johannesburg and Cape Town. The series wasn’t without controversy as many umpiring calls were questioned. The aftermath saw Virat Kohli give up his Test captaincy after the series ended.
Rahul Dravid regrets not winning the series in South Africa
During his chat with ESPN CRICINFO, Rahul Dravid went onto say “We have never won a series in South Africa, as you know. It was a really big opportunity for us to win that series. Some of our senior players were not there. Rohit Sharma was injured, and we didn’t have some senior players in that series”
“But we were very close, and in both the Test matches—the second and the third test matches—in the third inning, we had a big opportunity. We could have set a decent score and won the game, but South Africa played well” further said Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid also said “They chased back in in the fourth inning. So I would say that that was probably my lowest point in my coaching of not being able to win that series in spite of being ahead."
It is to be noted that Rahul Dravid did go to South Africa earlier this year as the coach. The first Test saw the home team post an easy win before India came storming back to win the game in one and a half days. The game made history as the shortest-ever Test match in cricket history.