India’s former Head Coach and captain Rahul Dravid shares advise on how to make cricket global after ICC’s big upset in T20 World Cup 2024 in USA. The USA segment of the T20 World Cup encountered considerable difficulties, including poor pitch quality. There was also low attendance, except for matches featuring Team India.
Earlier this month, a PTI report indicated that the ICC suffered losses of nearly USD 20 million from hosting the event in the United States. Despite the criticism, Rahul Dravid, the former India coach who led his team to victory in the tournament, has defended the decision to include the USA leg.
Rahul Dravid’s “compromises” advise
Team India played all their group-stage matches in the USA, facing Ireland, Pakistan, and the host nation. Their final group game against Canada was canceled due to rain in Florida. In response to the criticism, Dravid highlighted that “compromises” are unavoidable when organizing major events at relatively new venues.
“Yes, in terms of facilities, it’s challenging. But if you want to grow the sport and make it a global game, then you have to be at events like this and make compromises, even if it means playing at odd hours in conditions that might not necessarily be perfect,” Dravid said in a panel discussion on ‘Cricket at the Olympics: Dawn of a New Era’, celebrating the sport’s inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Games, in Paris.
“As a coach, I didn’t mind the 10:30 game” -Dravid
In the same event, Dravid also spoke about the unusual timings of the matches in the T20 World Cup. Most of the matches were played in the morning, keeping in mind the time zones of the south Asian viewers. Dew comes in as a big factor in such Games. However, Dravid had no issues with it.
“I don’t think starting at 10:30am was a problem for me, honestly. We are in the entertainment business, which caters to people who want to watch the sport. I had absolutely no problem with it,” Dravid said.
“As a coach, the conditions were quite even because dew becomes a factor in a lot of day-night games. The toss can become a big factor, as we saw in Australia. But for 10:30, it was not a problem; it was even-steven for both teams. From a coaching perspective, I didn’t mind the 10:30 game,” he added.
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