‘Rahul Dravid is a good coach… a player has to do the job’: Virender Sehwag supports India coach

2011 World Cup winning player Virender Sehwag put his weight behind current coach Rahul Dravid, saying that the criticism he is being subjected to after losing the World Test Championship final against Australia was uncalled for. The once swashbuckling batter also said that what the players do on the field is their responsibility and a coach can’t do anything about it.
Sehwag even said that their 2011 World Cup win made Gary Kirsten the coach he is today, pointing out that the South African has not won any major international title since.
“We made Gary Kirsten after winning 2011 World Cup. He coached many teams after that, but didn’t win anything except IPL. There too, Ashish Nehra was working a lot more than Kirsten,” Sehwag said in an interaction at the World Cup schedule launch event.

“Once a player is out on the field then the pride of the coach is in the hands of that player. If the player performs, then everyone praises the coach but if the players fails, the coach is criticised. We reached the World Test Championship final and nobody is talking that it was our second consecutive appearance at such a big tournament. Everyone is just talking about the loss. Fingers are being raised on Rahul Dravid’s role as a coach. Rahul Dravid is a good coach, but at the end of the day, a player has to do the job,” he added.
After leaving the Indian setup, Kirsten had a 2-year stint as the South African coach. He would then coach Royal Challengers Bangalore and ultimately was picked Gujarat Titans in 2022.