Watch: Rahul Dravid, Rohit Sharma's motivational dressing room speech after India's win in Dharamsala

Team India head coach Rahul Dravid delivered a motivational speech to all the players in the dressing room after Rohit Sharma’s side registered an innings and 64-run victory over England. Dravid stated that he was proud of the efforts the players have put in and also said some really important things in the speech in terms of staying together as a unit.

It was a series full of ups and downs and a number of impressive debutants. Rahul Dravid acknowledged every player’s efforts thoroughly and appreciated everyone’s contribution to the 4-1 series win. He indeed delivered a persuasive speech that will really motivate anyone and everyone who listens to it.

Dravid thanks players for showing exceptional resilience and character

The 51-year-old started off by congratulating his players as well as the support staff for the 3-month-long series. Rahul Dravid highlighted the kind of resilience the players showed and how they were able to bounce back despite their backs against the wall. India were without senior batters Virat Kohli and KL Rahul as well as Mohammed Shami. They played with a much more in-experienced side full of youngsters who were absolutely determined to contribute to the win.

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“Firstly, a huge congratulations to every one of you, the team, the players, and the support staff. Think there were times in the series when we were really challenged. We were pushed and we really found a way to bounce back, comeback. This speaks to the skills we have, the resilience we have, the character we have.”

“There’ve been many occasions in the series where the games could have gone either way but we always found people in this dressing room who stepped up and turned the game our way. I think that was fantastic.”

“Not only do we need to win the games when you have to fight back, bounce back which we did pretty well but you have to also win the games when you’re ahead and don’t let the opposition come back in any situation. So well done on that as well.” – Rahul Dravid said inside the dressing room. 

Rahul Dravid emphasizes players to help each other for success

One of the best things that Rahul Dravid could have said in his address was the importance of always staying together and sticking to each other through thick and thin. He emphasized the fact that every youngster who came into the team for the series should be learning to help each other and contribute to each other’s success.

Dravid asked all the players to always remain selfless and up to help a teammate through something. By doing that, he believes everyone will be on the path to success. Dravid told his players that the group’s success is only possible when players are invested in each other’s success and that’s something that will teach them to not just become better players but also better human beings.

“We spoke about it at the start of the series, irrespective of whether we win or lose, its gonna teach us a lot. 5-match Test series, you’re going to go through a lot of ups and downs. Its a long series, you’re going to be tested and it was gonna teach us a lot about us as players, us as a team, and a lot about you as people and I think we’ve come through that exceptional and terrific flying colors.”

“For a lot of you young guys especially coming into this group, you are going to need each other to succeed. Whether you are a batsman or a bowler, whatever you are, your success is tied in with other people’s success. All of you are invested in each other’s success and I think that’s really important going forward.”

“So it’s not your success but also how you can help other people succeed so well done on that. So as a young group going forward I hope that a lot of you play together for a long time, support each other and help each other grow as players and people.” – Rahul Dravid added.

Great satisfaction for Rahul Dravid after the series win as he describes Test cricket’s rigidity

Lastly, Rahul Dravid told everyone about the rigidity that Test cricket contains. It’s hard physically as well as mentally but there’s a next level of satisfaction when you end up winning a long series. Dravid said that is very much satisfied with how the team responded after going 1-0 down to win 4-1, calling it next to “phenomenal”.

“Test cricket is hard at times. Hard in terms of your skills, it’s hard physically as you feel, it’s hard mentally. Right, Test cricket is hard it is not easy but there’s great satisfaction at the end of it. At the end of a series the satisfaction you get, winning a series like this coming from 1 behind to be able to win 4, I think it’s just phenomenal.”

“I think there’ll be tougher challenges as we go forward, so as long as we grow, as long as we learn and as long as we keep improving and stay tight as a unit, I think we’ll be just fine,” Rahul Dravid concluded. 

India captain Rohit Sharma also made a cameo and he thanked the players for their contributions in the series.

“I want to thank personally to everyone for getting together and getting our act together. We wanted to respond under pressure. But that couldn’t have been possible if all of us wouldn’t have gotten into that thought process. I am extremely happy about that,” Rohit said in a video shared by BCCI.

𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗼𝗼𝗺!

Ft. Head Coach Rahul Dravid & Captain Rohit Sharma 💬#TeamIndia | #INDvENG | @ImRo45 | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/VL7RZvNyAO

— BCCI (@BCCI) March 10, 2024