NEW DELHI: Former India coach Rahul Dravid said Rohit Sharma’s willingness to adapt was one of the biggest positives during his captaincy, adding that it made the coach’s job far easier as the message flowed naturally through the team.

Dravid served as India’s head coach for nearly three years and guided the side to the 2024 T20 World Cup title in the Americas under Rohit’s leadership, before Gautam Gambhir took over the role.

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Rohit’s friendly nature and easy rapport with teammates helped him communicate ideas clearly, especially when it came to improving the team’s approach.

“When your leader stands up and says, 'I'm the one who will do that at the cost of sometimes my so-called average and the runs that I may score', it's a lot easier to pass that message (to teammates). The fact that he led the whole thing, you know, made your (coach's) job that much easier,” said the legendary Dravid at a function organised by the Karnataka State Cricket Association.

“He showed the way,” Dravid added on Tuesday.

Driving change in white-ball cricket

Dravid said Rohit quickly understood that India’s white-ball game needed to evolve and took responsibility for pushing that change.

“I think the easy part in this thing was working with Rohit, someone who himself really had quite a dispute with him. He was also recognising that the game was changing.

“I think, you know, the nature of batsmanship in white-ball cricket over the last 10 years or so... everything had started to change. In some ways, there was a feeling that we were slightly behind and we needed to get better at that. We needed to push the envelope a little bit more.

“We needed to take a few more risks. Run rates were going up. All of these things were going up. So, it was then actually just very easy to have that conversation with him. I think, he was completely on board. He was someone who took the responsibility of setting the game forward,” said Dravid.

Coaching must evolve with the game

Praising Rohit’s batting, Dravid said the former skipper adjusted his game superbly to meet modern demands.

“He (Rohit) already had a phenomenal record. I mean, his performances in the 2019 World Cup were absolutely phenomenal. Five hundreds and, you know, playing at a certain tempo. But that tempo needed to change.”

Dravid said coaching itself must evolve, warning that what worked in the past may no longer be relevant.

“So, one thing to learn as a coach is that you should never coach like you did yourself. I think the deal's changed a lot.

“You know, the late Mr. (Keki) Tarapore , who was a phenomenal coach, a phenomenal man. If I hit the ball in the air, he would make me run down the ground. He said, 'you've got to keep the ball on the ground. Keep it to the bottom, lean, keep it straight',” said Dravid.

Tarapore coached several Indian greats, including Dravid and Anil Kumble.

“You just imagine, if I were to be coached by him now... and to keep the ball to the ground and not to hit it in the air... that is not going to work, right? So, I think you've got to change with the times. You've got to realise what is the need that we have,” opined Dravid.

(With PTI Inputs)