Can Dravid extract the best out of the Men in Blue and bow out on a high?

Rahul Dravid's India team aims for ICC glory in T20 World Cup, World Test Championship, and ODI World Cup.

It was in November 2021 that Rahul Dravid, then the newly appointed India head coach, stated that his side needed to focus on three “big events” — the 2022 T20 World Cup, the 2021-23 ICC World Test Championship, and the 2023 ODI Cricket World Cup.

To claim an ICC trophy was paramount for Dravid and his men, having faced a drought since the exploits of M.S. Dhoni’s side in the 2013 Champions Trophy.

So here we are, nearly three years later, approaching the end of Dravid’s reign. The three big events have come and gone, and India is yet to scale the highest peak.

The 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup presents Dravid the last chance to add that exclamation point to his coaching tenure.

Much like Dravid, captain Rohit Sharma cannot escape a world event without repeatedly being reminded about India’s long empty cabinet.

Rohit came closest to achieving the dream last year, disrupted only by a ruthless Australia in the final of the 2023 ODI CWC. Rohit also led the charge at the previous edition of the T20 mega event, where eventual champion England thumped India by 10 wickets in the semifinal.

Rohit will have much of the same personnel from two years ago on duty here. Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav, the highest and third highest tournament run scorers in 2022, come in hot again on the back of good performances in IPL 2024.