Javed Miandad doesn’t think Rahul Dravid’s coaching had impact on India U-19 team

02/08/2018

Javed Miandad doesn’t believe that Rahul Dravid’s coaching had too much impact on India’s U-19 team as he feels that it is the raw talent that is quintessential. Criticizing the lack of support from the PCB for youth cricket, he also stated that Pakistan were lucky to reach the semis of the event.

India’s domineering success in the U-19 World Cup has brought huge accolades for head coach Dravid, whose commitment and discipline were clearly reflected in the colts’ conduct throughout the tournament. Former Pakistan player Ramiz Raja had even suggested a mentor like Dravid for the struggling Pakistan side, who could sculpt the raw talent into a furnished model for the future.

However, former Pakistan captain, Javed Miandad, doesn’t feel the same way about his nation’s future. Speaking about Pakistan’s U-19 World Cup campaign, which ended in the semi-final against India, the 60-year-old stated that the youth coaching is more about guidance rather than big names at the helm.

“Having a coach like Rahul Dravid sounds very exciting but I have never been a great supporter of big name coaches at such a level. At this level, it more about guidance than someone teaching you the basics of the game, as that should have been done at the earlier stages of a player's development.

"In sports, teams lose and get relegated in leagues, but the blame is never put on coaches alone. The fact is that if your raw material i.e. the quality of the players for the team is questionable then how one can expect a coach to fix that and make them a winning unit?" asked Miandad, during an interview with Pakpassion.net.

He was also asked about Virat Kohli, who is now averaging an incredible 318 runs, and has been in magnificent form in South Africa. The Indian skipper has played the starring role in India's series and has already led the visitors to a 3-0 lead in the six-match ODI series. And the Pakistan legend was quick to heap praise on the Indian skipper stating him as a "genius who is the best batsman in the world".

"In Virat Kohli's case his batting method is what allows him to score runs not just once but almost every time he comes in to bat. If a batsman's technique is bad, he can put some runs on the board once in a while, but he will not be able to do that consistently which is exactly true in Kohli's case.

“To me, the mark of a great batsman, like Kohli is the fact that he can vary his technique by quickly understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the bowlers. Kohli is a genius who is the best batsman in the world," he said.

Miandad, who played 357 international games for Pakistan and scored 16,213 runs, has been one of the biggest critics of Pakistan cricket and has never held back his views. And when has asked about Pakistan’s elimination at the knockout stages in the U-19 World Cup, he lashed out at the lack of support in the country at the developmental level.

"The loss to India in the ICC Under-19 World Cup was by a big margin of 203 runs which is hard to take but if truth be told, our team was lucky to have progressed that far given the inexperience of our players. Of course, victory and defeat are part of any sport, but we need to accept that there was a huge difference in terms of skills between both teams. India is a huge country with a bigger population than Pakistan, yet our players are able to challenge India in cricket which tells me that we have the potential, but we simply do not have the system that can support and get the best out of that potential," he added.

Javed Miandad doesn’t think Rahul Dravid’s coaching had impact on India U-19 team

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