Working with 6 captains wasn’t the plan: Rahul Dravid

After the T20 World Cup 2021, the Indian Cricket Team went through several transitions as Ravi Shastri's tenure as India's head coach ended. Rahul Dravid, the former head of the National Cricket Academy, accepted the head coach duties of the Indian team and began his stint during the home series against New Zealand last year. 

Team India, under his supervision, went on to defeat New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and West Indies in white-ball series. In contrast, the recent T20I series against South Africa ended in a 2-2 draw after the final T20I was abandoned due to the rain.

Since Dravid was appointed the head coach, he has worked with multiple captains. Besides Rohit Sharma, who was appointed the all-format captain of team India after Virat Kohli stepped down from the role, Dravid has worked with the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, and Rishabh Pant.

Meanwhile, the stylish India all-rounder Hardik Pandya is next in the queue to don the captaincy cap. He is all set to make his Indian captaincy debut next week when India will take on Ireland in the two-match T20I series. 

Speaking on this exciting element, the Indian head coach admitted that leading the national team across formats with six different captains wasn't something he expected when he started his tenure. Calling it a 'challenging task', Dravid also admitted that working with different players at the helm was fun and exciting. 

"It has been quite exciting, and it has been good fun. The journey has been challenging as well, and there have been probably six captains in the last eight months that I have had to work with. Which was probably not the plan when I first started, but the nature of COVID and the nature of several games we are playing," Dravid told host broadcaster Star Sports before the start of the fifth T20I.

"You know, managing the squad, managing the players' workload, and a few changes in captaincy, so it has meant that I have had to work with a few people. So it has been challenging but has been great fun as well," Dravid said.

"A lot of other guys have gotten opportunities to lead and to create more leaders in the group for us. As a group, we are constantly learning and have had the opportunity in the last 8-10 months to try out more people, which I think has been great. If I look back at the last eight months, South Africa was a disappointment in terms of the Test series," he added. 

Meanwhile, Dravid jets off to England with Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant after the India vs South Africa T20I series to join the rest of the Indian Test team for the upcoming one-off Test against England.