Rahul Dravid meets Jay Shah; discuss path ahead for India

India head coach Rahul Dravid recently met BCCI's secretary Jay Shah in the USA to discuss the roadmap for the World Cup in October.

India's preparations for the upcoming Asia Cup and ODI World Cup 2023 are under scrutiny after the team's recent underwhelming performance in the limited-overs series against West Indies. The batting lineup, apart from Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Shubman Gill, looks completely unsettled, as was evident in the first ODI where India struggled to chase down a paltry 115 with Kohli and Rohit demoting themselves in the batting order.

In the wake of these concerns, BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) Secretary Shah met with Indian head coach Dravid in Miami on Tuesday, August 8, ahead of the Florida T20Is against the Windies.

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The meeting lasted for nearly two hours and was held at the hotel where Shah was staying. The details of the discussion between the two men have not been disclosed, but it is likely that the roadmap to the World Cup 2023 was discussed. Shah has expressed his strong desire to win the tournament, which is scheduled to take place in India from October 5.

Following India's 2-3 loss to West Indies in the T20I series, Dravid has faced criticism from some quarters, with many questioning his leadership and others suggesting that a new coach should be appointed for the T20 format.

The Indian team will begin its preparatory camp for the Asia Cup 2023 in Alur, Bengaluru, on August 24. However, the selection committee has not yet received any information about when the squad for the continental cup will be finalized. It is possible that the selection will take place after India's first T20I against Ireland on August 18, where Jasprit Bumrah will be making his return to international cricket after 11 months.

rahul dravid
Photo credit: Twitter

The selectors have also not received any official communication regarding the fitness of KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, who are undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. The duo was recently spotted participating in warm-up games, and the NCA managers will likely give an update regarding both players to the BCCI ahead of the selection committee meeting.

India’s performances across formats under Rahul Dravid

Since Rahul Dravid took over from Ravi Shastri in November 2021, India have gone on to lose the Test series in South Africa, following which Kohli stepped down as Test skipper. In December 2021, he had been axed as India’s ODI skipper.

India also fared poorly in the Asia Cup last year, failing to make the finals and had a miserable run in the 2022 T20 World Cup. Although they made the semifinals, they looked far from convincing, with the 10-wicket loss against England in the knockout defining their campaign. India also lost the fifth Test against England in July, and went down to Bangladesh in the ODI series in December.

The Men in Blue also lost the World Test Championship final to Australia in June.

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A strong believer in the fact that Kohli and Paes are the greatest Indian superstars!