What’s the story?
Former Indian great Rahul Dravid, who coaches the Indian under-19 team and the India ‘A’ team feels that the junior bunch of players need not focus on results. He feels that at this age they should rather concentrate on improving their technique and learn to be adaptive rather than look at the final result in games.
Elaboration further on the subject, Dravid went on to say, "If you fail and get good feedback, you go back with the right reflections. In my opinion, it's better than having succeeded and not reflected on it, especially at this age. When I was young, I was always told not to focus on results. They key was just to learn.”
In case you didn’t know...
Dravid turned down an offer to coach the Indian cricket team so that he can continue to work with the younger bunch last year. And as the coach of Rajasthan Royals in 2015 and subsequently for Delhi Daredevils, he has been instrumental in promoting the youth to the first team. Heading into the 2017 edition of IPL, Delhi Daredevils are talent-laden with the likes of Rishab Pant, Karun Nair, Sanju Samson and Shreyas Iyer in their line-up.
The Indian U19 team is currently playing the England U19 team in an unofficial 5 match ODI series which will be followed by two unofficial Tests. After falling behind in the first ODI, the former Indian skipper saw his wards come back roaring to win the second ODI.
The heart of the story
Dravid is one of the very few Indian batsmen who has enjoyed success both at home and overseas.
“The Wall” as he is nicknamed, has revealed that he has asked the curator to provide a greenish wicket for the upcoming ODIs.
Dravid is confident about the team’s cohesion eventually and is preparing them for overseas success. The third unofficial ODI is scheduled on 3rd of February. It will then be followed by two more ODIs and 2 test matches as well. It can be said that Dravid will be keeping tabs on individual performances to ensure a fully confident team participates in the world cup next year.
What’s next?
The next Under 19 World Cup will be hosted by New Zealand in 2018 and Dravid wants to ensure that his players get adapted to the conditions prevalent there. Dravid also revealed that he was not worried about 17-year old Prithvi Shaw’s struggles in the series.
He defended that Shaw was still an unfinished product and that it was his responsibility to improve and guide him.
Sportskeeda’s take
The India ‘A’ team has enjoyed a purple patch and the India under-19 team has been impressive as well. And with Dravid at the helm of both, we can firmly believe that the future of the Indian cricket is in safe hands under ‘The Wall’.
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