Team India: Bricks of ‘The Wall’ 

Team India is all geared to make yet another attempt to carve its name on the prestigious T20 World Cup title. After lifting an inaugural edition under the leadership of MS Dhoni, Team India has had a hot & cold outing in the ICC tournament. 

Men in Blue were left thrashed and pinned in the previous edition as they were knocked out of the competition from the league stage itself. With the disappointing end to the T20 World Cup 2021, Team India saw significant changes in the affair as Rohit Sharma succeeded Virat Kohli, and Ravi Shastri made way for Rahul Dravid. The Rohit-Rahul duo is coming to its first ICC tournament with fierce weapons in their arsenal.  

KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Md. Shami and others will be in action on the field, and a quality group of men will ensure smooth proceedings behind the curtain. In this article, The Quotes list Rahul Dravid & Men, who will be responsible for ensuring that players hit the right chord during the high-stake ICC tournament. 

Head coach Rahul’ The Wall’ Dravid, together with his able deputies – former India players Vikram Rathour (Batting coach) & Paras Mhambrey (Bowling coach), faces his first major ICC assignment in the upcoming T20I World Cup in Australia. Aiding them will be:

Mumbai’s Arun Kanade, who for over half a decade has been the team masseuse. His primary role is to keep players’ muscles; specifically, the bowlers’, relaxed before each game. Hari Mohan, the team’s video analyst, helps dissect & analysing the opposition and provides key visual support to the players before each match.

Fielding coach, 39-year-old T.Dilip, a Level-III coach, despite no first-class cricket experience, is known for having coached the Hyderabad Ranji and India A sides. Team India’s strength & conditioning coach, Soham Desai, is responsible for varied fitness drills to ensure the players take the field fighting fit, besides planning the team’s dietary guidelines.

Paddy Upton, the team’s Mental Coach. He was a key cog in India’s victorious 2011 World Cup campaign. He was mental conditioning & strategic leadership coach between 2008-201. Pune-based GP Dr Charles Minz is the Team Doctor. He was a critical part of RCB’s set-up in 2020, ensuring a healthy bio-bubble during the IPL.

Head Physiotherapist Kamlesh Jain faced his biggest challenge recently when he had to take a tough call on Jasprit Bumrah’s availability for the T20I World Cup.

Throwdowns are helmed by Dayanand Guarani, a former medium pacer, 42-year-old Sri Lankan southpaw and erstwhile Sri Lankan fielding coach Nuwan Seneviratne. Guarani took up a throwdown course & has worked with Andhra’s Ranji team, whilst Seneviratne joined Team India as a throwdown specialist in 2018 to aid Indian batters in countering Pakistan’s left-arm pacers.

Assistant Physio Yogesh Parmar, an old BCCI hand, is the first person to remedy bowlers’ issues and monitors the progress of those injured. He keeps a check on player workload management, working behind the scenes round-the-clock himself. Mumbai ACP (R) Ravindra Doiphode, the team’s Security Liaison Officer, will ensure that no unwanted elements or POIs gain player access. Rajlaxmi Arora and Moulin Parikh will be overseeing media engagements.