Ever since Rahul Dravid was appointed as the India A and Under 19 coach in June 2015, the junior Indian teams have witnessed a lot of improvement, the success of which had a positive impact on the senior team as well. Youngsters have time and time again acknowledged the former Indian captain's role in their development.
A year before his appointment, Dravid also mentored Indian Premier League team Rajasthan Royals. Perhaps that might have helped Dravid as he produced fruitful results with both India A and under 19 teams. His first assignment was India A’s triangular series against South Africa and Australia’s A teams.
With the Indian colts, Dravid’s most important to challenge was to calm the nerves of the youngsters. He was also aware that it was necessary to provide enough chances, and as such frequently rotated the squad. This eventually became his trademark style of coaching.
In 2016, the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was fast approaching and Dravid laid out a plan for the team by arranging their matches against the Board President’s XI which demanded inclusion of some International players as well. The steps proved fruitful as India reached the finals by defeating all of their opponents. However India lost the final, but the legend inspired the wards with his motivational talks and experiences of life.
Dravid played his role as the coach of India A team quite effectively under whose mentorship players like Hardik Pandya, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Karun Nair, Shreyas Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal have been able to play for India.
But the most iconic achievement of this legend has been recently the one which he was not able to achieve during his playing days. He coached the young Under-19 team which has won the World Cup recently with the likes of players like Prithvi Shaw, Shubham Gill, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, etc. who have shown their impact to the world and outclassed others.
“Coaching gives me more fulfillment than commentary”: Dravid said on his post-retirement days
"I don’t think a good coach should expect the people who he’s working with to listen to everything he says. A good coach will like someone who’s willing to learn. He might be the quietest in the team, he might not take everything you say, but will be open to learning. That’s what coaches look for". ~ Rahul Dravid on a Coach
