“This is crunch time for Rahul Dravid”- Saba Karim after India’s early exit from Asia Cup 2022

Former Indian cricketer Saba Karim has said that head coach Rahul Dravid will be under pressure to ensure the Men in Blue deliver in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup in Australia after India's early exit from the Asia Cup.

While Rohit Sharma and Co. recently won their bilateral T20I series in England and West Indies, they failed to replicate their performances in the multi-team event in the UAE. India’s consecutive defeats against arch-rivals Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Super 4 stage knocked them out of the tournament.

Speaking on Sports18's ‘Sports Over the Top’ show, Karim said Dravid’s honeymoon period is over:

"Well, even Rahul Dravid is aware that the honeymoon period is over, and he is trying his best to be an alchemist, but so far, such metals haven't been converted into the core. One would expect him to do that. This is crunch time for him.”

“India can win both T20 World Cup and ODI World Cup”- Saba Karim on Rahul Dravid

The former Indian selector added that Dravid will only be satisfied if India delivers in the upcoming ICC events, i.e., the T20 World Cup 2022 and ODI World Cup 2023. India haven't won an ICC title since 2013 (Champions Trophy).

"With the World Cup T20 coming up, next year the ODI World Cup coming up. If India can win both these championships, then only Rahul Dravid will be satisfied with the kind of input he has given to team India."

He continued:

“See, Rahul is sensible and intelligent enough to understand that the only way he can define a successful tenure of his coaching career is if India -- number one, wins ICC events and number two, it starts to win Test series in SENA countries. I'm not talking about Test wins.”

Karim also added that Dravid would have loved to swap his other bilateral wins with victories in the Test series in South Africa and the rescheduled fifth Test in England. While India suffered 1-2 loss against the Proteas in three-match Test series, they settled for 2-2 draw against England following the defeat in the fifth Test.

"If given an option, Rahul Dravid would love to have those Test series wins in South Africa and the last Test match in England, and he would love to swap that with so many bilateral wins that India has got under his belt. But that's the nature of the challenges which he has to face.”

He stressed:

"Test wins even while Rahul Dravid was playing, India has done that. But more importantly, when India starts to win in SENA countries, the Test series, that's when he will be very happy with India's team performance."

India will next be seen in the upcoming white-ball series against Australia (three T20Is) and South Africa (three T20Is and as many ODIs). Rohit Sharma and Co. will look to eliminate all weaknesses from their T20 set-up during these series before the World T20.