IND vs BAN: 'Hope Rahul Dravid can get his players together' - Brian Lara's concerns for team India

Former West Indies cricketer Brian Lara offered valuable advice to Team India head Rahul Dravid before the start of the T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and the USA. Brian Lara urged Rahul Dravid to devise a plan for the final stages of the upcoming tournament to end their ICC trophy drought.

Rahul Dravid's tenure as head coach will end after the T20 World Cup. The 51-year-old failed to guide the team to an ICC trophy during his tenure. India reached the semifinals of the T20 World Cup 2022, the finals of the World Test Championship 2023, and the ODI World Cup 2023, but failed to secure the title.

Rahul Dravid will have his last opportunity to break the Indian cricket team's trophy drought and conclude his coaching tenure on a positive note. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently invited applications for the head coach, but the former cricketer reportedly did not apply for another tenure.

Hope Rahul Dravid Can Get His Players Together - Brian Lara

Speaking to Star Sports, Brian Lara expressed concerns about India's lack of a final plan during previous ICC events. Lara emphasized the importance of India having a clear strategy to win the World Cup, despite having many superstars in their squad.

“Indian team, just looking from the outside, in previous Cups, be it T20 or 50-overs, I just feel they are lacking that final plan in terms of how they are going to go about. It doesn't matter how many superstars you have; it matters how you are going to go about winning this World Cup, what plans you are going to have in place, and how you are going to structure your innings or attack."

"I hope Rahul Dravid can get his players together and can devise a plan for India to win T20 World Cup,” said Lara.

Team India To Kick Off World Cup Campaign On June 5

The Rohit Sharma-led team reached the semi-finals of the 2022 T20 World Cup but were defeated by eventual champions England. The Men in Blue won the T20 World Cup during the inaugural edition under MS Dhoni's captaincy. They have reached the final only once in the subsequent seven editions.

India is placed in Group A, alongside Pakistan, Ireland, the USA, and Canada. India kicks off their T20 World Cup campaign on June 5 against Ireland at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. The highly anticipated match between India and Pakistan is scheduled for June 9 at the same venue.

The Rohit Sharma-led team last played a T20 international game in January at home. The Indian cricket team will play a warm-up match against Bangladesh on June 1 in New York before the T20 World Cup.

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj. Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan

Also read: T20 World Cup 2024: Ian Bishop picks semifinalists of the ICC tournament