Rahul Dravid Has Big Shoes To Fill In The Place Of Ravi Shastri - Shoaib Akhtar

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has said that Rahul Dravid has big shoes to fill after Ravi’s Shastri’s successful tenure as Team India’s head coach. Dravid had a forgetful start to his tenure losing his very first overseas Test and ODI series. He took over as India head coach after the end of the T20 World Cup where India had another forgetful outing.

Speaking to PTI, Shoaib Akhtar has spoken about challenges in front of Rahul Dravid as the head coach of the current Indian side. A lot has happened in recent times with Virat Kohli stepping down as Test captain after previously relinquishing T20I captaincy. He was also asked to step down as India’s ODI skipper as well.

Rahul Dravid Has A Big Task Ahead: Shoaib Akhtar

“I don’t know what (BCCI president) Sourav Ganguly and other people think. But Indian cricket is definitely at the pinnacle point (crossroads). I hope people don’t say that he’s an overrated coach. He has to prove that, and obviously he has big shoes to fill in the place of Ravi Shastri. He has a big task ahead, let’s see how he performs” Akhtar told PTI on the sidelines of the Legends League Cricket T20 tournament.

The former Pakistan pacer further said that Dravid has a big job in his hands of controlling the decline of Indian cricket. There is a lot of unrest in the BCCI since Kohli has stepped down as India captain across formats. Naming his immediate successor is making the management think hard and long.

“No, Indian cricket is not going down. You have to take control of the situation. Rahul Dravid has a big job in his hands” said Akhtar.

Barring winning an ICC title, Virat Kohli had won almost everything a captain could have dreamt of. He ended his Test tenure with 40 wins and his ODI tenure with 65 wins. He gave up the captaincy in quick succession, but Shoaib Akhtar saw it coming straight after the T20 World Cup defeat.

“I knew that was coming. I was in Dubai during that time and I knew every bit of it. I knew the whole scenario and what was happening in the Indian dressing room from my friends in India. There were people against him. So I wasn’t surprised at his decision to quit. It’s not an easy job “ the Rawalpindi Express concluded saying.

Also Read: Virat Kohli Was Forced To Leave Captaincy, Says Shoaib Akhtar