Ex-India player thinks Rahul Dravid is not PROACTIVE as T20I coach and doesn’t support Hardik Pandya as captain like Ashish Nehra does

Patel said that though Pandya was brilliant as GT skipper, did a couple of mistakes while leading the Men in Blue in West Indies.

Ex-India player thinks Rahul Dravid is not PROACTIVE as T20I coach and doesn’t support Hardik Pandya as captain like Ashish Nehra does

Hardik Pandya, Rahul Dravid (Image via Getty)

India head coach Rahul Dravid is not proactive in T20Is and doesn’t support Hardik Pandya as a captain the way Ashish Nehra does as the Gujarat Titans (GT) head coach, feels former India player Parthiv Patel. Patel said that though Pandya was brilliant as GT skipper, did a couple of mistakes while leading the Men in Blue in West Indies.

Pandya was made the skipper of the GT when the team played their first season in the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2022. And surprisingly, he led the side to the title that year. In the 2023 IPL, GT again produced scintillating performances and reached the final but lost to MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

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After GT’s IPL win and India’s defeat in the T20 World Cup last year, the selectors undoubtedly chose Pandya as the successor of current India captain Rohit Sharma. He and Virat Kohli may not be in the scheme of things in the shortest format for the upcoming T20 World Cup and the responsibilities may well be on the young shoulders with Pandya as the leader. But as a leader, he needs the full support of the coach.

“But is Rahul Dravid that proactive coach or person which we are looking for in the T20 format? I don’t think so. In my mind, we need someone who is proactive. Hardik Pandya has that spark but he needs that support which Rahul Dravid doesn’t provide,” Parthiv said while speaking on Cricbuzz.

Patel then pointed out the mistakes Pandya did in the first two T20Is against West Indies, saying he gave the ball to Axar Patel when Nicholas Pooran came out to bat, and in the second T20I, he did not give an over to Yuzvendra Chahal which changed the game in favor of West Indies.

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Hardik Pandya will become the first skipper to lose bilateral series against West Indies in 17 years

Ex-India player thinks Rahul Dravid is not PROACTIVE as T20I coach and doesn't support Hardik Pandya as captain like Ashish Nehra does
IND vs WI (Image via Getty)

If India lose the third T20I against West Indies, then Hardik Pandya will become the first captain to lose a bilateral series in West Indies in 17 years. India lost the first two T20Is against West Indies by four runs and two wickets respectively.

Pandya’s captaincy, though he has a win percentage of 66.7 after leading India in 12 T20Is, was criticized after the two back-to-back defeats. Team India will make sure they do not lose the third T20I which will be played on Tuesday (August 8) at the Providence Stadium in Guyana.

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