Ravi Shastri on Rahul Dravid: 'Inherited a great team and he can only raise the bar'

On his final match as the head coach of Team India, Ravi Shastri has commented on his successor Rahul Dravid, who takes over the team following the conclusion of the tournament. Shastri expressed his thoughts while speaking during the toss of India vs Namibia, ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 match on Monday. Earlier last week, Dravid was announced as the new head coach of the team as Shastri’s tenure ends today. 

Speaking during the toss, Ravi Shastri said that he wanted to make a difference when he took charge of the team and he feels he succeeded in doing so. After five years as the head coach, the 59-year-old coach said his journey with the team was fantastic and lauded the team for overcoming obstacles all around the world in the last five years under the captaincy of Virat Kohli. While speaking about his successor, Shastri added, “In Rahul Dravid, they've got a guy who has inherited a great team and I think with his experience, he can only raise the bar in time to come. There are still players here who will play for another 3-4 years which is very important. It is not a team in transition and that'll make the biggest difference”.

Shastri speaks about Kohli's final match as India's T20I captain

Shastri also added that Kohli is still with the team which has done a fantastic job as the skipper of the side. Shastri praised the outgoing captain by terming him as the biggest ambassador of Test cricket and credited Kohli's thoughts about how he wants the team to perform. The India vs Namibia match is also Kohli’s final match as Team India’s captain in the T20Is. 

Speaking about his time as the Indian coach, Shastri added, “I am mentally drained but I expect that at my age. These guys are physically and mentally drained, six months in a bubble and we would have ideally liked a bigger gap between the IPL and the World Cup. It's when the big games come and when the pressure hits you - you are not that switched on as you should be. And it's not an excuse. We take defeat because we are not scared of losing. Because in trying to win, you will lose a game. Here we didn't try to win because that X-factor was missing.” Kohli's team play their final match of the T20 World Cup 2021, after failing to qualify for the playoffs.

Image: t20worldcup.com/ICC