Six captains leading Indian teams across formats in a span of eight months isn't something that head coach Rahul Dravid had planned but he isn't complaining as it provides an opportunity to create more leaders within the group.
Since Dravid took over in November after the T20 World Cup, India have had Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya (set to lead in Ireland) as national captains due to the COVID-19 related bubble breaks, simultaneous series held in countries, and injury-induced breaks.
"It's been challenging as well, we have got six captains in the last eight months, which actually wasn't the plan when I started, but it's the nature of the number of games we are playing," Dravid told Star Sports before the start of the fifth match.
The 'Wall' accepted that the times are such that one has to accept the situation.
"It's the nature of COVID, so I have had to work with quite a few people. It has been great fun. A lot of other guys have got an opportunity to lead, we have got opportunities to create more leaders in the group," he looked at the positive side of the things.
The endeavour has been to get better in every aspect although losing the Test and ODI series in South Africa was disappointing.
"We have constantly strived to get better, we have tried a lot of different people. In the last eight months, touring South Africa was a bit of a disappointment in terms of Test cricket," he said.
Dravid is happy with the bowling talent that has emerged thanks to the IPL.
"Our white-ball cricket has been good though, shows the character of the team. It was incredible to see the fast bowling talent we have (during the IPL), especially with few of the bowlers clocking such speed.
"A lot of youngsters got an opportunity to showcase their skills, and a lot of them came good, those are really good signs for Indian cricket, exciting times ahead," he sounded confident.
(To receive our E-paper on whatsapp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
