6 captains in 8 months was not planned, says Dravid

BENGALURU: Six captains leading India teams across formats in a span of just eight months is not something that head coach Rahul Dravid had planned, but he is not complaining as the opportunities allow the team to create more leaders.

Since Dravid took over in November 2021 after the T20 World Cup, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya (set to lead in Ireland) have been named as India captains due to COVID-19 related bubble breaks, simultaneous series held in different countries and injury-induced breaks.

“It has been challenging as well. We have got six captains in the last eight months, which actually was not the plan when I started, but it is the nature of the number of games we are playing,” Dravid told Star Sports before the start of the fifth India-South Africa T20I here.

“It is the nature of Covid-19, so I have had to work with quite a few people. It has been great fun. A lot of other guys have got an opportunity to lead, we have got opportunities to create more leaders in the group,” Dravid looked at the positive side of things.

The chief coach said that the endeavour has been to get better in every aspect, adding that losing the Test series in South Africa was disappointing. “We have constantly strived to get better, we have tried a lot of different people. In the last eight months, touring South Africa was a bit of a disappointment in terms of Test cricket.”

But, Dravid is pleased with the bowling talent that has emerged, thanks to the Indian Premier League. “Our white-ball cricket has been good though, it shows the character of the team. It was incredible to see the fast-bowling talent we have (during the IPL), especially with few of the bowlers clocking such speed.

“A lot of youngsters got an opportunity to showcase their skills. A lot of them came good, those are really good signs for Indian cricket. Exciting times ahead,” added Dravid.