It was the perfect farewell for Indian head coach Rahul Dravid as the Men in Blue edged South Africa in a humdinger to clinch the T20 World Cup after 17 long years on Saturday. The seven-run triumph also ended India's 11-year wait for an International Cricket Council (ICC) title.
For all his achievements, a World Cup had eluded Dravid. He was part of the Indian team which came second best to Australia in the 2003 ODI World Cup final in South Africa. Dravid, who took over as India coach in late 2021 following the T20 World Cup debacle, guided India to two major finals last year. However, Australia came out on top on both occasions - in the final of the World Test Championship and the ODI World Cup.
It turned out to be third time lucky for Dravid and his boys at the Kensington Oval. Dravid finally got his hand on a World Cup trophy and he celebrated wildly as he held aloft the silverware. Dravid had formed a successful partnership with skipper Rohit Sharma and the triumph was a culmination of it.
India under Dravid had failed to go past the group stage in the 2007 ODI World Cup in the Caribbean. Now, Dravid leaves the Caribbean shores with the a sense of satisfaction knowing he's a World Cup-winning coach. His former skipper and ex-BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly had brought in Dravid as Ravi Shari's replacement precisely for this purpose. 'The Wall' has done his bit in moulding the Men in Blue into world champions.
