Wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik is confident that Indian cricket is in safe hands with the legendary Rahul Dravid taking over as the head coach of the men’s team. Dravid succeeded Ravi Shastri into the role post the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in UAE last year and has seen a mixed start to his tenure.
India defeated New Zealand in a T20I and Test series at home in Dravid’s full charge. However, on South Africa tour, they lost Test series 1-2 and were blanked 0-3 in the ODIs.
India are now preparing to host West Indies for six white-ball matches staring February 6 when the first ODI will be played. That contest will also be India’s 1000th ODI and thus they will become the first international team to do so.
“To be the first team to play 1000 ODIs is a phenomenal achievement, it is hard to put it into perspective considering India has been playing for a long time now. But to play 1000 ODIs is no joke,” Karthik told news agency ANI
“I am so proud to be part of that journey, I have enjoyed playing the ODI format. We have been good at it. We have been a strong force over a period of few decades,” he added.
There’s been a lot of debate over the workload of players especially since the advent of IPL with players hardly getting time to rest and recover. Recently, the BCCI took it upon itself to ensure players don’t suffer burnout in light of the grueling schedule combined with the bio-bubble requirements.
Karthik though feels that players are been given enough time to recover and Dravid is someone who will encourage them to be open about their state of mental and physical health.
“We do have a lot of matches but players are given ample opportunity to rest, Rahul Dravid is the kind of person who will encourage players to speak how they are feeling mentally and physically. He will accommodate players’ wishes in terms of giving rest so I think India is in a very safe space right now,” Karthik said.
