‘Rohit Sharma changed India’s T20 mindset:Rahul Dravid praises former India captain; says – ‘Made the team fearless and aggressive’

Former India head coach Rahul Dravid has heaped praise on Rohit Sharma, crediting the Indian captain for completely transforming the team’s mindset and style of play in T20 cricket. Dravid revealed that when he and Rohit took charge together, they shared a clear vision, to make India’s batting more aggressive, fearless, and capable of posting big totals consistently. Under Rohit Sharma’s leadership, India has reached new heights, winning two ICC trophies within just nine months, the T20 World Cup in June 2024 and the Champions Trophy in March 2025. Dravid emphasised that this success was the result of a shared commitment to modernise India’s batting approach and keep pace with the evolving demands of T20 cricket. “Rohit completely changed the team’s approach to playing T20 cricket,” Dravid said. “When Rohit became captain and I took over as coach, we both decided together to transform the team’s batting into a faster, fearless, and high-scoring style.” Rohit talked about attacking cricket from the beginning Reflecting on the early days of their partnership, Dravid shared how Rohit set the tone for India’s aggressive intent from the start. “I cannot talk about what happened before I came. But since I came, my conversations with Rohit have always been about playing more aggressive cricket. We implemented this from the beginning because we could see that the game was moving in that direction. Rohit deserves a lot of credit for this,” he said. Also read: Shreyas Iyer likely to be sidelined till January 2026: India ODI vice captain says he’s ‘getting better’; physio predicts two-month recovery period India’s batting now sets a global benchmark Dravid highlighted that India’s fearless batting approach has now become the new standard for world cricket. “India’s T20 batting has now become the new benchmark for the world. I am happy that we continued with this approach. Today, Indian T20 batting is at a different level. The team scores close to 300 runs and the rest of the world is now trying to match India. In the last 3-4 years, other teams are also saying that we need to play like India,” Dravid explained. Also read: First time since 1877, Tea will be taken before Lunch: India vs South Africa Test in Guwahati to see major change, match begins 22 November ‘Coaches only create the environment’ – Dravid Dravid was humble about his role, crediting the players and the captain for executing the vision. “Coaches only create the environment, but players take risks on the field. Credit goes to the players and the captain. We can give them confidence, but they have to play and hit big shots,” he said.