Rahul Dravid's Honest Take On US leg of T20 World Cup 2024 Amid Criticism

29.07.2024 - 09:23 sports.ndtv.com

Former India head coach Rahul Dravid has defended the heavily-criticised US leg of last month's T20 World Cup, saying that "playing at odd hours" and coping with "challenging" facilities were necessary "compromises" to take cricket to a larger audience.

Given the huge effort involved in conducting the event in the region, Dravid said he was fine with the 10.30am (local time) starts and the infrastructure used for the games in New York, Florida and Texas. "Yes, in terms of facilities, it's challenging.

But if you want to grow the sport and make it a global game, then you have to be at events like this and make compromises, even if it means playing at odd hours in conditions that might not necessarily be perfect," Dravid said in a panel discussion on 'Cricket at the Olympics: Dawn of a New Era', celebrating the sport's inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Games, on Sunday.

Dravid coached India to their first ICC title in 11 years in the tournament hosted jointly by the USA and the West Indies, where the knockout matches were played.

cricket India Cricket Team Rahul Dravid Usa New York India Los Angeles state Texas

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