Rahul Dravid has to prove that he's not an overrated coach: Shoaib Akhtar

Team India will be playing for pride when they face South Africa in the dead-rubber third ODI at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town on Sunday. A new-look Indian team led by the stand-in captain KL Rahul suffered a 31-run defeat in the series-opener followed by a seven-wicket defeat in the next game.

After having lost their first away series under new head coach Rahul Dravid, Pakistan pace icon Shoaib Akhtar has said that the former Indian skipper needs to prove that he is not an ‘overrated’ coach. A

“I hope people don’t say that he’s an overrated coach. He has to prove that, and obviously he has big shoes to fill in the place of Ravi Shastri. He has a big task ahead, let’s see how he performs” said Shoaib Akhtar as quoted by NDTV.

Indian cricket is not going down: Shoaib Akhtar

At the same time, the ‘Rawalpindi Express’ also made it crystal clear that Indian cricket is not going down and instead it is at the ‘pinnacle point’.

“I don’t know what (BCCI president) Sourav Ganguly and other people think. But Indian cricket is definitely at the pinnacle point (crossroads). No, Indian cricket is not going down. You have to take control of the situation. Rahul Dravid has a big job in his hands”, said the tearaway fast bowler.

Rahul Dravid took over the reins from Ravi Shastri after the conclusion of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in November and his first coaching assignment was during the home series against New Zealand. The Men In Blue whitewashed the Kiwis in the three-match T20I series before going on to win the two-match Test series 1-0.

India then toured South Africa and drew first blood in the three-match Test series with an emphatic 113-run win at Centurion before losing the next two games at Johannesburg and Cape Town respectively. The Indian team also failed to make amends in the ongoing ODI series and would now be looking forward to signing off with a consolation win.

Meanwhile, it would be interesting to see whether the team management will be looking to test the bench strength in the third & final ODI.