Indian National Cricket Team head coach Rahul Dravid was at his most animated after his team defeated South Africa National Cricket Team in the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 to lift the trophy on Saturday, June 29 at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados.
This was Rahul Dravid’s last game as the head coach of the Indian National Cricket Team as he confirmed that he will not continue with the Indian team. The legendary batsman took over the head coach’s post from Ravi Shastri after India’s 2021 T20 World Cup debacle.
Dravid joined the team for a two-year stint, which ended in 2023 along with India’s dream run in the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they won ten matches in a row before facing a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of the National Cricket Team. of Australia in the final.
The BCCI then offered an extension to Dravid and his support staff and urged them to continue for a few more months until the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. Rahul Dravid accepted the deal and stayed for six more months.
Under Rahul Dravid, India played 4 ICC events – 2022 T20 World Cup, 2021-23 ICC World Test Championship, 2023 ICC ODI World Cup and 2024 ICC T20 World Cup. India lost to England in the semi-final of 2022 T20 World Cup and the Australian team defeated India in the final of ICC World Test Championship and the final of ICC ODI World Cup. However, they eventually ended the ICC trophy drought by clinching the 2024 T20 World Cup title.
Meanwhile, Rahul Dravid gave lively reactions from the dressing room as India sealed the game but his best avatar was witnessed when he celebrated with the trophy.
The head coach was standing at the back while Rohit Sharma and his players celebrated and that was when India’s great batsman Virat Kohli decided to call out Rahul Dravid in the middle and handed him the trophy to celebrate. Rahul Dravid was excited and shouted aggressively as he put on a grand celebration with the trophy. Fans witnessed the never-seen-before avatar of Rahul Dravid as he never shows much emotion on the field.
Watch: Rahul Dravid’s trophy celebration
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– Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka (@Hanji_CricDekho) June 29, 2024
Head coach Rahul Dravid is all set to be replaced by World Cup-winning batsman Gautam Gambhir. The deal has reportedly been finalized and the Kolkata Knight Riders mentor is eager to coach the Indian team.
Coming back to the match, India posted 176/7 on the board in the first innings, thanks to the batting masterclass from Virat Kohli (76) and Axar Patel (47). The duo played some great cricket after India lost quick wickets and Shivam Dube also chipped in with a good 27 runs. With the ball, India started well but at one point the equation came down to 30 for 30 for the Proteas. That was when Hardik Pandya made the breakthrough and the momentum shifted towards India, who won the match by 7 runs.