I got the job by mistake: Ravi Shastri backs Rahul Dravid to take India to greater heights under his tenure

Former India head coach Ravi Shatri has that Rahul Dravid will enjoy his coaching job once the players starts responding to his ideas and has backed the head coach to take the team to even greater heights.

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has backed Rahul Dravid to take India to greater heights. Giving the vote of confidence to one of the most legendary players to have ever graced the field, Shastri said that Dravid had done the hard yards before taking on the India role.

“No better person to take over after me than Rahul. I got the job by mistake. I was in the commentary box and I was asked to go there and I did my bit. But Rahul is a guy who has come through the system and done the hard yards. He's been coach of the U-19 team and then he has taken over the Indian team and I think he will enjoy it, once the team starts responding to what he says,” Shastri said.

Under the tenure of Shastri, India became the best touring team in the world, besting challenges in all conditions, barring South Africa in the Test format of the game. Despite not having won any World Cups, Shastri’s time with the Indian team is considered as revolutionary for the impact he left on the culture. Combining with Virat Kohli, the head coach formed one of the most lethal pace line-ups in modern cricket, which was able to topple batting line-ups at will while playing away from home.

Shastri spoke about the need to have a thick skin in such a job and said that the last thing he bothered about was the media.

“The last thing I was worried about was media. If the boys performed, media will react the way you want. If you don't do well, they have a right to smash you and if you do well, you will get the accolades,” he said.

“Our job was very simple, what the media did not like about Indian cricket. The fact was that we were bullies at home and we didn't play great cricket when we were overseas. So the job for me with the team was to prove them wrong. So, how are you going to do it? You sit with the team, you sit with Virat and say that we are going to take 20 wickets. As simple as that, take the pitch out of the equation,” he further added on the matter.

The tenure of Rahul Dravid has had unexpected challenges, with the coach having to deal with separate teams under several different captains. Key Indian players have been left injured in the run up to the World Cup. The head coach has indicated that he will decide the initial squad for the world tournament after the England white-ball series, but it is yet to be seen how many Indian players manage to stay fit at that time.