‘Have the ability to counteract different situations’ – Head coach Rahul Dravid confident about India’s chances in West Indies conditions

Rahul-Dravid. (Photo Source: Twitter)

As the mega cricket showdown, T20 World Cup 2024 moves into the crucial Super Eight stage, all eyes are on the Indian team’s strategy to tackle the unpredictable conditions in the West Indies.

The Men in Blue topped Group A alongside the United States to book their place, and now find themselves in a formidable group with Australia, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. With India playing their three Super Eight games at different venues across five days, adjusting quickly to the varying conditions will be key. Team India’s modern and aggressive batting approach in limited-overs cricket has been the biggest hallmark of the head coach Rahul Dravid and skipper Rohit Sharma‘s era so far. However, the conditions in the Caribbean have forced them to settle that mindset having batters to play more composed knocks.

“There’s no question about it. Sometimes in certain conditions – you’ve just got to be mindful of conditions also. I think sometimes we just get carried away in T20 cricket and just talk about pushing the needle forward, pushing the needle forward. But then, it’s also, cricket is a very condition-specific game,” Dravid said at the pre-match press conference.

“It’s one of the only sports left where the surface makes such an impact on the actual skill levels, the actual performance levels, what is an acceptable performance level. It’s one sport that we play where the surface makes a huge difference and it has to be brought into consideration at all times,” he further added.

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Trying to be smart in our decision-making: Rahul Dravid

According to Team India’s head coach Rahul Dravid, the unpredictable Caribbean tracks require quickly rectifying their approach each game. Interestingly enough, he compared it to their USA leg of the T20 World Cup 2024, where batters had to adapt immensely in New York. Moreover, he also recalled the last marquee event which was played in Australia where conditions were slightly different at each venue.

“I think we saw that in the US, and we saw that in New York, that had to be brought into consideration not only for us but for other teams as well. I think everyone had to do that. Even in Australia [during the last T20 World Cup], there were times when you had to take that into consideration. Not every wicket is Hyderabad or not every wicket can be the same. So, I think that’s something we pride ourselves on as well. I think we are trying to also get that ability to be smart in our decision making, to try and assess situations cleverly,” he said.

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The coach remains confident in India’s experience, knowledge, and ability to counteract different situations. Avoiding the risk approach in New York suggested a change in mindset to increase their chances of winning.

“We feel we’ve got the experience and the knowledge and also the ability to counteract different situations that may present themselves. We are looking at things that the past games that have been played here, what have been the scores, But again, I think you’ve got to keep an open mind. I think that’s an important thing. You might have all the stats, you might have all the data, but on the day, sometimes conditions can be very different to what you think it is,” Dravid concluded.