Former India coach Rahul Dravid has tipped India as strong favourites to defend their T20 World Cup crown, starting February 7. Dravid, who celebrated the fulfilment of a long-held dream on June 29, 2024, when India ended a 13-year ICC title drought, believes the current team’s approach under Suryakumar Yadav and coach Gautam Gambhir is exceptional. With India unbeaten in T20I series for nearly three years — their last loss coming against the West Indies in August 2023 — the Men in Blue appear a daunting force heading into the home World Cup. Yet, Dravid offered a reminder that in T20 cricket, one off day can undo everything. Reflecting on November 19, 2023, he said, “Irrespective of how strong the Indian team is, one bad day in the office can undo everything.” Dravid had considered stepping down after India’s brilliant 10-match winning streak at the last World Cup, only to be persuaded by Rohit Sharma to continue for another six months.
Highlighting India’s dominance in T20 cricket, Dravid noted their 80% success rate in recent years. “They clearly start as favourites, and they will make it to the semi-finals, but as I have learned to my bitter disappointment, it’s about the better team on the day. Anybody can play a good knock and upset you,” he added at an event celebrating the book The Rise of the Hitman by R. Kaushik. Dravid also credited Rohit Sharma for transforming India’s white-ball game. Following the disappointing 2022 T20 World Cup exit against England, Rohit sparked a batting revolution that continues to bear fruit. “There was a feeling that we were slightly behind in white-ball cricket and needed to push the envelope a little more. Run rates were going up, risk-taking was increasing, and we needed to adapt to that reality,” Dravid said. “What was brilliant was that Rohit took the lead immediately. He took responsibility for setting the tempo himself, rather than asking others to do it. When your leader stands up and says, ‘I will do this, even if it comes at the cost of my average or my personal numbers,’ it becomes much easier to pass that message through the team. I thought Rohit managed the transition into leadership really well. The team never felt that he had changed, and that is a rare and important quality in a leader.”
