KL Rahul eager to embrace Rohit Sharma’s calm and Dravid’s team culture | Cricket News – Times of India

The T20 World Cup has been a reality check for India. The brand of cricket the team played seemed outdated in front of the competition. Such has been the calendar for the team that there has been very little time to reflect on the debacle.
They are in Jaipur getting ready to play a T20I series against eventual T20 World Cup runners-up New Zealand from Wednesday.
“In terms of template, we all need to sit down and make a collective decision about what is the best template or brand of cricket we need to play to make sure Team India is getting better performances. We will have this discussion in a couple of days. It starts with the series and we are going into it with a fresh frame of mind,” newly-appointed vice-captain KL Rahul said on Monday, making it clear that there was little time to be in denial
about what transpired in UAE the last fortnight.

The hurting stars of Indian cricket will have another shot at winning the T20 World Cup in a year in Australia.
“Long term goal is to win a World Cup. Every series from now on is important. We will try and see what the best combination is keeping the World Cup in mind. We need to get better as a unit with every series,” Rahul remarked.
The next T20 World Cup will be staged Down Under from October 16 to November 13 in 2022. The shot at redemption may come soon but there’s not much time to waste.
There’s change of guard in the leadership group with Rohit Sharma coming in as the T20I captain and Rahul Dravid assuming charge as the head coach. Rahul himself is in the leadership group.
“It’s collective effort. The leadership group becomes really important to make sure everybody is feeling comfortable, secure and clear about their roles,” he said of his role as a vice-captain.

“There’s nothing new about Rohit as captain. He is tactically really good as his IPL record suggests. He will bring a lot of calm in the dressing room. Next few weeks will be exciting to understand what kind of goals he has. Dravid is big on team culture and wants everybody to put the team ahead of individual performances,” Rahul claimed.
‘Hardik knows what he needs to do’
Hardik Pandya — struggling for form amidst the uncertainty over his availability as a bowler — has been dropped from T20I team. Rahul said Hardik knows what he needs to do to make a comeback.
“Hardik and I are good friends so we had a discussion among ourselves. He knows what exactly he needs to do (to make an India comeback) and what exactly the team expects out of him.
“He is quite a smart guy to understand his role and responsibility in the team. I am sure he will work hard and try and get the best out of him,” Rahul added.