IND vs AUS Final: Why Rohit wants to win the World Cup trophy for Dravid?

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma wants to win the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 as a payback to what head coach Rahul Dravid has done for the team and players during their toughest times

India head coach Rahul Dravid never won a World Cup despite playing in three and captaining in one. However, come Sunday, November 19, 2023, he could become the first Indian coach since PR Man Singh in 1983 to win the World Cup with the Indian team. 

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This could be a momentous occasion for the Wall, whose contract with the Indian team will end on the very next day of the World Cup. Similar was the case with Gary Kirsten who was coach of the MS Dhoni-led side that lifted the cup in 2011 at home. Can he win the World Cup for India or not is a question that can only be answered by time, but the Indian skipper wants to win it for him. 

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, in the pre-match press conference ahead of the final against Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, said that Rahul has played a massive role in the team’s transformation from the 2021 World Cup debacle to reaching the World Test Championship Final and the T20 World Cup 2022 final. 

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“His role has been massive in terms of getting that clarity, which I keep talking about. There's one thing for me to think about and the other thing for the coach to not agree to certain things. Looking at how Rahul himself has played his cricket and how I am playing these days it's quite contrasting. For him to agree and give me that freedom and liberty to go and play the way we want to play, says a lot about him,” Rohit said. 

Dravid, an Under 19 World Cup winning coach, has remained connected with the game ever since his retirement and his mantra has always been hard work prevails over talent not working hard. Talking about how he has been instrumental in shaping the players, Rohit said that this team wants to win this trophy as a gift to the coach. 

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“The way he stood by the players in difficult times where during the T20 World Cup, we had a good run up until that semi-final and we lost and how he reacted to certain situations and informing the players about this is what we are looking at and all of that says a lot about him as well. And obviously, what he has done for Indian cricket is massive. And he also feels that he wants to be part of this big occasion. And it's for us to do it for him,” said Rohit.