Former Indian opening batter Gautam Gambhir is hopeful the duo of new coach Rahul Dravid and probable T20I captain Rohit Sharma can help India in winning an ICC title. India last won a major ICC title when former skipper MS Dhoni-led the team to glory in the Champions Trophy in 2013.
Since then India has been a consistent team in major events but hasn’t been able to go all the way as they have failed to win the crucial stages of the big matches. India lost the 2014 T20 World Cup final against Sri Lanka, 2015 World Cup semifinal against Australia, 2016 T20 World Cup semifinal against West Indies, 2017 Champions Trophy final against Pakistan, 2019 World Cup semifinal against New Zealand and the 2021 World Test Championship final against New Zealand.
Thus, Rahul Dravid as well as Rohit Sharma will look to put paid to India’s major events woes. Rohit is expected to take over the T20I captaincy bridle and he has done a fabulous job as a T20 captain. The talisman is the most successful IPL captain as he has lead Mumbai Indians to five IPL titles.
On the other hand, Rahul Dravid will definitely add value to the team as the head coach of the team with his tactical nous. Dravid has done wonders at the Under-19 and India A level and he will look to get the best out of the players.
“Looking forward to it (Dravid’s tenure as coach). India will have a new captain as well and I hope Rohit Sharma gets it because of 5 IPL titles, what more do you want from someone? The most successful captain in the history of the IPL and hopefully he and Rahul Dravid can take Indian cricket forward. Probably can win an ICC tournament as well. It’s been a long time now, it’s been 14-15 years we haven’t won a T20 tournament,” Gambhir said on Star Sports.
On the other hand, England is known for their aggressive batting approach in T20Is and that is one of the reasons for their success. Gambhir opined the Indian team has the firepower to play like England in the shortest format of the game.
“Hopefully, Rohit and Rahul can take Indian cricket forward and probably can create a template, the way they want to go about in the T20 format. I hope they go about it the same England goes because you have got the ability to do it,” Gambhir added.
“Sometimes, if you ask a team like New Zealand to do it, they might not be able to do it because they have not got enough firepower but with people like Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, and Hardik Pandya, they have the ability to be fearless.
India will play their last match of the T20 World Cup 2021 against Namibia.
