'Dar Kar Khel Rahe...': Rahul Dravid's Golden Response To India's World Cup Final Defeat

Head coach Rahul Dravid expressed his support for the Indian batting unit despite their struggles in the World Cup final against Australia. He emphasised that the team's approach was not defensive, and their tactics were influenced by the game circumstances.

Dravid addressed concerns about the team's batting performance, stating, "I won't believe that we played with fear in this tournament. In this final match, we were on 80 runs in 10 overs. We were losing wickets. When you lose wickets, you have to change your strategy and tactics. We showed that in this tournament. When we lost against England, we played differently. You have to play. You start with front foot cricket. And in this match, in the final, we didn't play anything out of fear. They did a lot of good bowling in the middle overs."

He defended the team's approach and explained, "We lost three wickets. So, we needed a period of consolidation. But whenever we thought we'd play attacking or positive and go forward and hit, we lost wickets. So, you have to build again. Whenever you have a partnership, you have to build it. You saw the batting of the team. There was a time when Marnus and Head were playing. They established it. But they didn't get out, so they kept playing. If you keep losing wickets in the middle, then you have to rebuild. But it's not like we started playing defensively."

Reflecting on India 's overall performance in the tournament, Dravid acknowledged the disappointment of not winning the title in the Rohit Sharma-Rahul Dravid era. He commented, "Rohit has been an exceptional leader, always committed to planning and gave personal time and energy to this campaign. Obviously, there is disappointment, but this team has given a lot of joy in the past couple of months. Of course, Rohit and the team are disappointed, and it is tough to see the emotion as a coach in that dressing room. But the sun will come up tomorrow, and as sportsmen, we move on."

As for his future with the team, Dravid remained non-committal, stating, "I have not given any thought to next year's T20 World Cup; I don't know what's there in the future." India's last ICC trophy victory dates back to 2013, and Dravid's tenure was until the ODI World Cup. The coach recognised Australia's all-round performance in ending India's impressive run in the tournament.