Who would have thought that Rahul Dravid, who became the coach of Team India out of compulsion, would end his journey in this manner. Rahul Dravid was appointed the coach of Team India about two and a half years ago. Then Team India could not even qualify till the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2021 and now this tournament proved to be his last stop with Team India.

With the T20 World Cup final, Dravid's journey with Team India also ended. The big thing is that Rahul Dravid became the world champion in the last match. His journey was full of ups and downs, in which there were some great victories, which were also some heartbreaking failures.

Ganguly became the coach after Shah persuaded him

After Ravi Shastri's tenure ended in 2021, the responsibility of taking Team India forward was handed over to Rahul Dravid. Then there were reports that the then BCCI President and Rahul Dravid's close friend Sourav Ganguly and BCCI Secretary Jay Shah had persuaded him a lot to become the coach.

Dravid was the director of the National Cricket Academy till then and used to coach the Under-19 team. Dravid was also not interested in becoming the coach of Team India then, but after the persuasion of Ganguly-Shah, he agreed to it.

The sole purpose of appointing Dravid as the coach was to end Team India's title drought. Team India, which was stuck in the hurdle of semi-finals and finals, could be inspired to cross it. Expectations are not always fulfilled and the same happened in Dravid's case.

As soon as he became the coach, the first Test series was played against New Zealand, which India won 1-0. Then the very next Test series was in South Africa, where the team had to face defeat.

Questions were raised, yet Dravid stood firm

Although Team India needed a title the most, Team India failed in the first attempt itself. In the T20 World Cup 2022, Team India was eliminated after losing in the semi-finals. Questions were raised on Dravid because he was given the responsibility of changing Team India but the team appeared to be on its old track.

There was constant criticism that even Dravid's presence could not change the team but he stood firm. Along with captain Rohit Sharma, Dravid gradually changed the team and the result was seen in the form of constantly improving performance.

However, the title still remained away from Team India and once again they had to face defeat in the final of the World Test Championship against Australia. Then 4 months later, in the ODI World Cup 2023 held at home, Team India performed sensationally and once again the team reached the final but the result was the same - Australia defeated them in the final.

Despite this, the trust on Dravid remained intact and the BCCI gave him an extension till the T20 World Cup 2024.

How was Dravid's tenure?

During Rahul Dravid's coaching career, Team India played 8 Test series, in which India won 6, drew 1 and lost only 1. However, during this period, Team India lost the chance to win the series by losing the fifth Test against England, while also lost the WTC final. Overall, during Dravid's tenure, India won 14 out of 24 Tests, lost 7 and drew 3.

Talking about titles, Dravid made Team India the champion of 2023 Asia Cup but lost in big ICC tournaments. They lost the final of WTC 2023, ODI World Cup 2023, while they failed in the semi-finals of T20 World Cup 2022 and similarly could not reach the final in Asia Cup 2022 as well. But the last day of Rahul Dravid's coaching tenure was amazing. Team India won the T20 World Cup and now he will be called the world champion coach.