Virender Sehwag, the swashbuckling batter who was one of the key architects of India’s 2011 triumph hopes India head coach Rahul Dravid will take a cue from Gary Kirsten and focus on personalised preparation for individuals and focus on the dozen-odd ODIs remaining in the lead-up to the 2023 men’s ODI World Cup.
The Kirsten influence
“Gary Kirsten had come on [as head coach] in 2008; the World Cup was in 2011. For three years we prepared for each game as a knockout game.
“India should prepare for each ODI hereon as a knockout so that it will be easy because they will have that mindset already,” Sehwag said here on Tuesday at an International Cricket Council event to announce the World Cup schedule with 100 days remaining for the tournament.
“During our time, Kirsten allowed each individual to practice in his own way — it wasn’t required that a Virender Sehwag should face 200-300 balls like a Sachin Tendulkar. If he can face 20 balls and play well, that’s enough.
“Rahul Dravid should know how much each player should train in order to get the best out of them. Once the player steps onto the field, the player’s performance judges the coach — if the player does well, the coach gets the praise, otherwise the coach gets criticised.”
Taking a cue from India’s recent World Test Championship final loss, Sehwag said Dravid, the former India captain, is already under the scanner.
“We (India) reached the WTC final twice but no one talks about India making back-to-back finals, which in itself is an achievement. Everyone is talking about the loss and saying Rahul Dravid is not a good coach,” he said.
“He is a good coach and a good player but it is up to the players to do well first. A school is not known by the teachers but by the students who come out of it.”
