Rohit Sharma's phone call to Rahul Dravid which changed India's fortunes at T20 World Cup

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Rahul Dravid wanted to quit as India head coach but a phone call from Rohit Sharma convinced him to stay on, and now he is T20 World Cup winner. read more

Rahul Dravid has revealed that he was not interested in continuing as India’s head coach after the defeat in the 2023 ODI World Cup final to Australia, but it all changed after a phone call from captain Rohit Sharma. Dravid, on Saturday, coached India to the 2024 T20 World Cup title as Men in Blue defeated South Africa by seven runs in the final. This was also India’s first ICC title in 11 years.

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Dravid thanked Rohit in the dressing room for the call after India won the World Cup. He shared he had decided to quit as India’s coach after the ODI World Cup final loss but decided to continue after Rohit and BCCI general secretary Jay Shah convinced him to give it another try.

“I just like to say, Ro, thank you very much for making that call to me in November and asking me to continue. I think it’s been such a privilege and a pleasure to work with each and every one of you and every one of you, but also to know Ro. Thanks for the time.”

“I know as a captain and a coach, there’s a lot of times we have to chat. We have to discuss. We have to agree. We have to disagree at times, but thank you so very much. It’s been brilliant to get to know each and every one of you as a person,” said Dravid.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝗿𝗲-𝗪𝗔𝗟𝗟! 🫡

The sacrifices, the commitment, the comeback 🏆

📽️ #TeamIndia Head Coach Rahul Dravid's emotional dressing room speech in Barbados 👌👌 #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/vVUMfTZWbc — BCCI (@BCCI) July 2, 2024

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Suryakumar also revealed the same recently in an interview.

“In the end, he (Dravid) came and thanked Rohit and said, ‘Thank you, Rohit, for that phone call in November’, because he didn’t want to continue after (India’s loss in the final of) the 50-over World Cup but Rohit and Jay sir (BCCI secretary Jay Shah) convinced him to stay," Suryakumar said in an interview with The Indian Express.

Captain Rohit, who retired from T20Is after the World Cup victory, had said earlier that Dravid deserved the trophy more than anyone in the team.

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“He - more than any one of us, I think he deserved that trophy. What he has done for Indian cricket for the past 20-25 years, I think this was the only thing that was left in his cabinet. I am very happy from all of us on behalf of the entire team that we could actually do this for him. You saw how proud he was and how excited he was. Really grateful to the occasion for this to happen as well,” Rohit said in the post-match press conference.

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