India head coach Rahul Dravid was reminded of some bitter memories as he attended the press conference ahead of T20 World Cup 2024 match against Afghanistan. Dravid, who took up the coaching job on the back of an astounding career with the Indian team, doesn’t have the best of numbers behind him in Barbados as a player. As a reporter reminded him of his poor stats at the venue, the India head coach was visibly irked and lost his cool at the question.
Dravid gave the reporter the complete gyan of his psyche, saying he is someone who moves on quickly and is only looking to do well as a coach, not thinking about his own performances as a player in the past.
Reporter: “Rahul, you as a player, you have played here. Not the best memories of the 97 Test?”
Dravid: “Geez, thanks a lot buddy! I have had some other decent memories here as well.”
Reporter: “That is actually my question. A chance for you to probably make new and much better memories tomorrow?”
Dravid: “God man! I am not trying to make new anything man!
Dravid came to Barbados in 1997 when India took on West Indies. Dravid scored 78 and 2 as the Indian team lost the Test by 38 runs in Bridgetown. Now the coach of the Indian team, the legendary cricketer is only thinking of the task at hand, and not what happened more than 25 years ago.
“I move on from things very quickly. That’s one of my things. I don’t look back on things. I try and look at what I am doing now, at the moment. I am not concerned about what happened in 97 or some other year.
“By winning this… you know. If you had told me that by winning this, we would have not scored 80-odd and scored 121, then I would be bothered. But, even if we win this match tomorrow, unfortunately, that is still going to remain 80 on the scorecard, however much I try and will it. No I don’t think about any retribution. I move on from things. What’s in front of me, good or bad?
“I don’t think of myself much as a player anymore. Yeah, just move on. Focus on tomorrow, and try and get a good result tomorrow,” he said in the press conference.
