Ravichandran Ashwin took a dig at Gautam Gambhir and the current Team India management for not supporting their players and having a poor outlook about the future. He believes that at present the Indian players have no clarity about their role and future in the team.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, he brought out the fact that Rahul Dravid had a clear plan and gave clear support to his players across all formats. In the video, he discussed how Rahul Dravid stood by Hardik Pandya despite problems outside and inside the team.
Ravichandran Ashwin supports Rahul Dravid as head coach in place of Gautam Gambhir
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Aish Ki Baat, Ravichandran Ashwin took a dig at Gautam Gambhir and India’s management while supporting Rahul Dravid, as he said that former head coach Rahul Dravid always supported his players and had a clear vision before dropping any player from the team.
“You asked about Rahul Bhai. Everyone has the right to criticize him, but can anyone honestly say that Rahul Bhai dropped players without any planning? Or that he did not give enough chances to the players? Can anyone point a finger and say that he failed to maintain stability in the team?”
“See how he supported Hardik Pandya” – Ravi Ashwin highlights Rahul Dravid’s support for Hardik Pandya
Ashwin also highlighted how Dravid managed Hardik Pandya’s workload and believed that Pandya’s injury during the ODI World Cup 2023 was unfortunate. However, he did not stop supporting Hardik Pandya and supported him in difficult times.
“Look at how he supported Hardik Pandya and managed him. When the time came, it was very unfortunate that Hardik got injured at the worst time during the 2023 World Cup. But did Rahul bhai ever stop supporting him?”
Ravichandran Ashwin discusses clarity of role under Rahul Dravid
Ashwin also talked about the support from Shubman Gill and how the former head coach transformed him into an opening batsman across all formats. He also provided support to KL Rahul and under his leadership, the Karnataka batsman had the best time in the middle order for the Men in Blue. Apart from this, Shardul Thakur and Kuldeep Yadav were also supported and performed well for India.
“He supported Shubman Gill in the same way, bringing him in as the opening batsman. He also gave tremendous support to KL Rahul. During Rahul bhai’s tenure, KL Rahul became one of India’s best Test batsmen,” Ashwin said.
“He gave Shardul Thakur a longer role at No. 8, especially on overseas tours. When the team returned to India, he supported Kuldeep Yadav by giving him a consistent role as the third spinner.”
Ravichandran Ashwin finally concluded by saying that as long as Rahul Dravid was the coach, there was no lack of stability in the team. Notably, the former India spinner had worked closely with Dravid during his tenure.
“The players never felt that the team lacked stability. So you can’t really blame Rahul bhai. I have worked very closely with him, so I know. People will always criticize. They criticize even the best in the business. Tell me, is there anyone in the world who has never been criticized? No. Everything attracts criticism,” the spinner said.
“Leave aside the social media criticism – that’s not the issue. Ask any player who was a part of Rahul Bhai’s tenure as coach. Ask them how Rahul Bhai was as a coach and how they liked playing under him. The players themselves will tell you. Everyone has different opinions. Is there anyone in this world who does everything perfectly and keeps everyone happy? No, it’s not possible at all.”
