Former India head coach Rahul Dravid revisited India’s heartbreaking loss to Australia in the 2023 World Cup final. The Men in Blue fell short by six wickets, missing out on a home World Cup triumph. After posting a competitive total of 240 while batting first, India couldn’t defend it as Australia comfortably chased it down in 43 overs.
Travis Head played a decisive knock, scoring a magnificent 137 off 120 deliveries. Interestingly, Head had a stroke of luck early in his innings, surviving multiple close calls against Indian pacers Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah. Despite being beaten several times, he went on to anchor Australia’s chase with a match-winning century.
Dravid remarked that luck often plays a key role in such crucial games, pointing out that cricket’s fortunes can change quickly — noting how Head was dismissed for a first-ball duck in the IPL 2024 final just months later.
“You need those moments of luck a little bit in life. You just need those things, you know Travis head was beaten by Shami and Bumrah like a lot that day and he went on to play a phenomenal innings.”
“And then 6 months later he’s playing a final of the IPL and first ball he edges Vaibhav Arora in a final, SRH versus KKR. And that’s the game, right? You think you’re in control of a lot of things, but there certain things you’ve got to sometimes just accept them and move on,” he said on ‘Breakfast with Champions’.
Rahul Dravid Opens Up On His Bond With Players During His Tenure As Head Coach
Rahul Dravid ended his time as India’s Head Coach after leading the team to win the 2024 World Cup, a perfect ending after the heartbreak of the 2023 final. Looking back on his journey, Dravid said that the best part of his role was building strong and genuine relationships with the players, which meant more to him than just match results.
“I think more than the wins and the losses, I think I’ve built some good relationships with a lot of those players. Some of the better conversations I’ve had with a lot of the players and the team have been more just sitting and maybe just having a chat over a coffee or a tea or a lunch or a dinner. And I think you really get to know people a lot better in that way,” he said.
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