Former India head coach Rahul Dravid opened up about his professional relationship with current ODI captain Rohit Sharma, praising the star batter’s leadership qualities, emotional intelligence, and ability to foster a positive team environment. Dravid highlighted that Rohit genuinely cared for his teammates, maintained a cheerful and relaxed atmosphere in the dressing room, and always provided clarity on his objectives.
A Seamless Coach-Captain Dynamic
Dravid explained that his own coaching philosophy aligned perfectly with Rohit’s approach as captain. He believed in allowing the skipper to take charge while providing guidance and clarity whenever needed. Their collaboration proved highly effective, helping India maintain consistent performances and reach the 2023 ICC World Cup final.
𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝑹𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒏 𝑨𝒔𝒉𝒘𝒊𝒏’𝒔 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝑻𝒖𝒃𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒍, “𝑰 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎. 𝑹𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒖𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒎. 𝑰 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏’𝒔 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎.”
Dravid also noted that Rohit played a crucial role in convincing him to continue as head coach after he considered stepping down following the World Cup final defeat in 2023. Thanks to the skipper’s encouragement, Dravid stayed on and later guided India to T20 World Cup glory in 2024 at Barbados, ending an 11-year ICC trophy drought.
𝑶𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒚𝒍𝒆, 𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒅 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅, “𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑹𝒐𝒉𝒊𝒕, 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎, 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒕𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒑𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆. 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓.”
Emotional Bond Beyond Cricket
Dravid emphasized that his relationship with Rohit went beyond cricket, valuing the meaningful conversations they shared on and off the field. In a farewell note at the end of Dravid’s tenure, Rohit humorously mentioned that his wife Ritika had jokingly referred to Dravid as his “work wife,” reflecting the closeness and mutual respect in their partnership.
𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅, “𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏. 𝑾𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕, 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏’𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒅.”
Dravid also reflected on watching Rohit’s journey from a young U19 player to captain, highlighting his exceptional ability to emotionally connect with teammates and lead with calmness and balance.
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