WTC Final: Coach Rahul Dravid dismisses concern around winning ICC trophy, says India is under no pressure

Indian team head coach Rahul Dravid has put all concerns about winning an ICC trophy under the mat, saying India is under no pressure. As India gear up to face Australia in the second World Test Championship (WTC) Final, starting June 7th at the Oval in London, Dravid addressed the media and said while winning will be the icing on the cake, the fans and supporters must cherish the journey in this cycle.

India tasted tremendous success in the latest WTC Cycle (from 2021 to 2023), including beating some top teams like Australia at home and even drawing the away five-match series against England 2-2. Though they remained unbeaten at home in Tests, India’s only low point in this cycle came during the away Test series against South Africa in 2021/22, where despite winning the first game, they lost the three-match series 2-1.

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Rahul said while he is conscious of India’s track record in the ICC tournaments in the past decade, where they failed to win a single multi-team tournament, barring Asia Cups, he added the team is proud of what they achieved in this WTC cycle.

"Not at all; we don't feel any pressure in terms of trying to win an ICC trophy. Of course, it would be nice to do it. Nice to be able to win an ICC tournament," Dravid said during the presser ahead of the WTC Final.

"But also, in the context of things, you look at this, and you see this is the culmination of 2 years of work, the culmination of a lot of success that gets you here. There are a lot of positives to take from that, see where you stand in the table, winning series in Australia, drawing series here. Being very competitive, this team has played in the world over in the last 5-6 years. Those are things that will never change, just because, you don't have an ICC trophy. That's really the bigger picture," the head coach added.

"But, of course, it would be nice to be able to lift... any game of cricket, you want to win it. This happens to be the WTC final, and it would be nice to get on the right side of the result," Rahul said.

Dravid lays a simple plan on how to win WTC Final

In a very-Dravid style, the India head coach laid a simple plan on how can they beat the mighty Aussies and end their ICC trophy drought.

Restraining himself from falling into the ‘who’s the favourite team’ web, Dravid said such things don’t matter when both teams would take the field on Wednesday. He added India and Australia are quality sides, and without hyping this contest, he wants his players to deliver across all departments.

"Whatever happens, it will happen over the next 5 days. Whatever happens before that, whatever is being said before and after doesn't matter. Who is favourite, who is not... these are two good teams who are playing. Both teams have some good players. I have very good hope that if we play good cricket if we can take 20 wickets and score runs, I have confidence that we can win this. Probably, not having hype is a good thing," Dravid said.

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