When India coaches got “two-three months” off for the IPL, why would they need a holiday, according to former coach Ravi Shastri
R Ashwin backed Rahul Dravid’s decision to take a break from the current tour of New Zealand, pointing out the team’s physical and psychological strain ever since they started preparing for the 2022 T20 World Cup.
Former India batter and current director of the National Cricket Academy VVS Laxman assumed leadership of the squad in Dravid’s absence, which featured a new lineup sans usual skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, and Ashwin himself.
Because even it may be taken differently, I’ll explain why Laxman went there with a whole different squad “On his YouTube account, Ashwin said. “Prior to the T20 World Cup, Rahul Dravid and his staff worked really hard, starting with planning. I’m saying this because I seen it firsthand.
They had detailed plans for each location and each opponent. They would thus have been exhausted physically as well as mentally, and everyone needed a respite. We have the Bangladesh tour following the conclusion of the New Zealand series. For this trip, we have a different coaching team under the direction of Laxman.
After winning four of their five group games, India advanced to the T20 World Cup semifinals but lost to eventual champions England.
Ravi Shastri, Dravid’s immediate predecessor, had questioned the necessity for a holiday for an India coach given that they have “two-three months” off during the IPL.
Before the first T20I between India and New Zealand in Wellington, Shastri had stated, “I do not believe in breaks. “Because I want to be in control of that squad, and I want to understand my team, my players, and my team.
“These breaks—to be quite honest, why do you need so many? You have two to three months left in the IPL, which is plenty time for you to rest as a coach. But other times, I believe a coach should be actively involved, no matter who he is.
For a trip to Zimbabwe earlier this year, David had also been given a break. Prior to that, a second-string T20I team competed against Ireland in Dublin while he and a number of other first-choice players were permitted to concentrate on a Test match in England. And in October, a group of unimportant players took part in an ODI series against South Africa at home, while India’s T20 World Cup team was in Australia. Laxman has stepped in for Dravid on each of these instances.
