Former Indian coach and skipper Rahul Dravid opened up on his lowest point as Men in Blue’s head coach, revealing it to be India’s series loss to South Africa back in the 2021-22 season.
Back in 2021-22, under Virat Kohli’s captaincy, the Men in Blue had a serious chance to defeat the Proteas in a series at their home territory for the first-time ever. After a thumping 113 win at Centurion in the first Test, Men in Blue was expected to dominate the series. But with two seven wicket wins in the next two Tests, the Proteas earned a commendable come-from-behind triumph despite India dominating both matches at some point. This was Virat’s last assignment as Test captain.
Speaking to Star Sports, Dravid said, “If you ask me what is the lowest point, I would say that 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. 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.”
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Dravid revealed that some of the senior players, like Rohit Sharma, missed the series and despite that, India matched Proteas in both matches, but eventually, Proteas restricted India to low-scores when it was needed and chased down targets with ease.
“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 innings, we had a big opportunity. We could have set a decent score and won the game, but South Africa played well. They chased back in the fourth innings. So I would say that that was probably my lowest point in my coaching career–not being able to win that series in spite of being ahead,” he added.
Dravid had a fine career as a coach for Team India, finishing with an ICC T20 World Cup trophy after a thrilling win over South Africa this year in June at Barbados. Before this, India ended as runners-up in the 50-over World Cup at home last year after a dominant 10-match win streak, losing to Australia. They also ended up as runners-up in the ICC World Test Championship to Australia last year. India also won the 50-over Asia Cup last year.