Rahul Dravid Needs To Prove He's Not An 'Overrated Coach': Shoaib Akhtar

After team India lost their first international series under head coach Rahul Dravid, former Pakistani pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar has opined that Dravid needs to prove he's not an "overrated coach".

Rahul Dravid With Virat Kohli, Photo Courtesy: AFP

New Delhi: The Indian cricket team is facing Proteas in the dead rubber third One-Day-International game at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town. Hosts South Africa have already won the three-match ODI series 2-0 and team India will be playing for their pride in the series finale. After losing the Test series 2-1, stand-in skipper KL Rahul-led team India lost the ODI series as well.

After team India lost their first international series under newly-appointed head coach Rahul Dravid, former Pakistani pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar has opined that Dravid needs to prove he's not an "overrated coach".

“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” said Shoaib Akhtar as quoted by NDTV.

Shoaib Akhtar, one of the most lethal fast-bowlers of all time, said that Indian cricket is not going down and instead it is at the ‘pinnacle point’.

“I don’t know what (BCCI president) Sourav Ganguly and other people think. But Indian cricket is definitely at the pinnacle point (crossroads). 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 the tearaway fast bowler.

After Ravi Shastri ended his tenure as team India's head coach post the ICC Men's T20I World Cup 2021, ex-India captain Rahul Dravid took over the reins and his first assignment was New Zealand's tour of India for a T20 and Test series. Under Dravid's mentorship, India had defeated the Kiwis 3-0 in the T20I series and later went on to win the two-match Test series 1-0 against the visitors.