Rahul Dravid Backs Individual Greatness Amid Gautam Gambhir’s “No Superstar Culture” Stance

Rahul Dravid’s remarks come at a time when India faces a tough transition following the Test retirements of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and R Ashwin.

Rahul Dravid Backs Individual Greatness Amid Gautam Gambhir’s “No Superstar Culture” Stance

Rahul Dravid provided a different stance on Gautam Gambhir's 'superstar culture' remark. (via NDTV Sports)

In Short
  • Rahul Dravid disagrees with Gautam Gambhir's stance on eliminating 'superstar' culture in cricket.
  • Dravid emphasizes the importance of individual brilliance as a foundation for team success.
  • He expresses confidence in India's young team despite recent challenges in Test cricket.

Former Team India head coach Rahul Dravid expressed his disagreement with his successor, Gautam Gambhir’s, remarks on ‘superstar’ culture within the squad. Dravid instead chose to provide a surprisingly thoughtful answer regarding the role icons can play.

Rahul Dravid’s tenure as the head coach, from 2021 to 2024, was profoundly transformative. The 53-year-old also ended the Indian cricket team’s 11-year wait for a major ICC title, with a T20 World Cup win in 2024.

Furthermore, his collaborative partnership with captain Rohit Sharma elevated India to the No. 1 rankings in both ODIs and T20Is, complemented by appearances in the finals of the WTC and the ODI World Cup in 2023.

His exit in 2024 saw Gambhir take over as head coach. Even before Gambhir took charge, the 44-year-old was vocal about his intention of dismantling the ‘superstar’ culture within the team, with his philosophy centered around a team-first approach.

He also emphasized upon ‘trophies’ over ‘individual milestones’, while noting how certain moments remained highly underappreciated, including his own 97 runs during the 2011 WC final. 

Dravid did not find any issue with the idea of prioritizing collective achievements but provided a more nuanced perspective. He played in an era when the team had a long list of ‘superstars’, including Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, and Virender Sehwag.

The former Indian captain underscored the importance of having ‘heroes’ who can inspire a team and can elevate the level of the game. He said on Wisden’s The Scoop podcast:

Any sport needs its heroes, and I don’t think people become heroes without performances.

The 53-year-old former cricketer even suggested that every sport in the world needs its ‘heroes’, adding that individual brilliance is the building block of a thriving sports ecosystem, especially in a country like India.

Dravid pointed to how the high praise stars receive for brilliant performances can quickly turn into anger and criticism when they fail to deliver. He stressed the fact that a player only becomes a ‘superstar’ if he has done things right and has also helped his team win.  

You can’t capture the imagination of a nation if you don’t deliver on the field, especially in India, where you get a lot of praise for what you do, but also a lot of brickbats… So to become a legend or a superstar in India means you’ve done a lot of things right, and in the process, you’ve also helped your team win

Rahul Dravid also offered his thoughts on India’s recent, less-than-optimal Test cricket performances under Gautam Gambhir. He acknowledged that the transition to a young side would be challenging, but expressed confidence that the Men in Blue would regain form.

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Sourav Ganguly reveals how he went against the BCCI to keep Rahul Dravid in India’s ODI team

One of India’s most successful captains, Sourav Ganguly, made a fascinating revelation about how he went against the BCCI to save Rahul Dravid’s One-Day career. It was a strategic move, which ultimately led to India making it to the final of the 2003 ICC ODI World Cup. 

Sourav Ganguly on Rahul Dravid
Sourav Ganguly opened up about saving Rahul Dravid’s ODI career. (via News 18)

Ganguly’s remarks highlight the Bengal-born cricketer’s strategic genius. On a recent podcast appearance, the 53-year-old former BCCI president reflected on how he publicly backed his players, including Rahul Dravid, who was being criticized for his low strike-rate in ODIs during the early 2000s. Although Dravid was a consistent member of the team, his strike rate was widely considered inadequate.

Ganguly disclosed that he disagreed with the selectors’ decision to drop Dravid, or it might have ‘ended’ the Karnataka-born batter’s career. He then pointed to how he ended a structural issue in the Indian ODI team by urging Dravid to keep wickets, which allowed the team to pick an extra specialist batter. He added that it also paved the way for Mohammad Kaif’s inclusion in the side. He said on Raj Shamani’s podcast:

When Rahul Dravid was getting picked in ODIs, people used to say his strike rate was not good enough. Selectors would say maybe someone else needed to be picked. But I did not leave him, because if I had left him, it could have finished him.

The move paid off, as Dravid retired as India’s fifth-highest run-getter in the 50-over format. He scored 10,768 runs in 340 matches, at an average of 39.15 with 12 centuries and 82 half-centuries, while also captaining India at the 2007 ODI World Cup. 

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