In the dead-rubber third One-Day International (ODI) against South Africa on Sunday at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town, Team India battled for their honour and lost. Earlier in the series, an inexperienced Indian squad headed by stand-in skipper KL Rahul was defeated by 31 runs in the first game, followed by a seven-wicket loss in the second game.
Pakistan’s fast bowling legend Shoaib Akhtar has said that former Indian captain Rahul Dravid must demonstrate that he is not an ‘overrated’ coach after the team’s maiden away series under Dravid’s leadership.
“Hope people do not think he is an overrated coach. He will have to demonstrate this, and it is clear that he will have large shoes to fill in the absence of Ravi Shastri. It would be interesting to observe how he performs in the coming months,” Shoaib Akhtar, as reported by NDTV, remarked.
Shoaib Akhtar believes that Indian cricket would not be defeated under Rahul Dravid
At the same time, the ‘Rawalpindi Express’ made it abundantly obvious that Indian cricket is not on its way down and is, in fact, at its ‘pinnacle point’ right now.
“The opinions of BCCI president, Sourav Ganguly and other individuals are unknown to me. However, Indian cricket is unquestionably at the zenith of its powers (crossroads). No, the Indian cricket team is not in danger of going out of business. You must assert your authority over the matter. Rahul Dravid has a major task on his hands,” Shoaib Akhtar stated.
Taking over from Ravi Shastri after the end of the ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2021 in November, Rahul Dravid was given his first coaching duty for the home series against New Zealand. The Men in Blue dominated the New Zealanders in the three-match Twenty20 International series before going on to win the two-match Test series 1-0.
Later, India travelled to South Africa, where they won the opening game of the three-match Test series by an impressive 113 runs at Centurion before losing the following two games at Johannesburg and Cape Town. The Indian squad has also failed to make reparations in the current One-Day International series and went home empty-handed.
