Rahul Dravid pinpoints THIS as lowest point of his coaching career and it's not 2023 ODI WC or WTC Final loss

Rahul Dravid, the former India head coach, has pinpointed the lowest point of his coaching career, and it’s not the 2023 ODI World Cup or the World Test Championship Final loss.

Under Dravid, the Men in Blue tasted success at the 2024 T20 World Cup in the Americas by winning it for the second time. With that, Team India also ended their ICC trophy drought, last winning in 2013 (Champions Trophy) under MS Dhoni.

Though India stayed at the top of the table across all formats for the longest time during his tenure, there was this one series where they failed to bring home the glory despite leading it at one stage, and Dravid picking the same is not coincidental. Yes, that was the away South Africa Tests in 2021, a fortress India hasn’t conquered in the longest format.

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“If you ask me what the lowest point is, I would say the South Africa Test series early on in my career,” Dravid said, as quoted by News18.

India won the first Test but failed to win the remaining two, losing the three-match series 1-2. Though Captain Rohit Sharma missed out on getting picked due to injury, India came close to creating history but fell shy.

“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. 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 inning, 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 inning. So, I would say that that was probably my lowest point in my coaching of not being able to win that series in spite of being ahead,” Dravid added.

Lifting morale of the team

Dravid admitted he took learning from that series loss and made required changes wherever needed to ensure the team went past the winning line the next time.

“But there were a lot of learnings from that. You know a lot of those experiences, and you know we learnt a lot from them,” he said.

“So I think as coaches, what is very important is that you will go through ups and downs. What is really important is to maintain that balance and realise that you can’t always win games. Other teams have also come to play; you’re playing against some world-class sides, and you have no right to always win," he added.

Meanwhile, per the latest report, Dravid is said to replace Kumar Sangakkara as the new head coach of Rajasthan Royals in the IPL.

(With inputs from agencies)