India vs Australia, World Cup Final: 'It's for us to do it for him,' Rohit wants his team to win title for Dravid

India captain Rohit Sharma on Saturday said that his team wanted to win the Cricket World Cup for head coach Rahul Dravid, who failed to win the coveted trophy as a player.

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India take on Australia in the World Cup summit clash in Ahmedabad on Sunday. It will be for the first time since the 2003 World Cup that the two teams will faceoff in the final of an ICC limited-overs competition.

Rahul Dravid was part of the India side that suffered a 125-run defeat to Australia in the 2003 World Cup final in Johannesburg. Four years later, under the captaincy of Rahul Dravid, India would go onto suffer a group stage exit from the 2007 World Cup in West Indies.

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However, Sunday provides a chance for Dravid to win the World Cup with India as a head coach.

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“What he has done for Indian cricket is massive. He too feels that he wants to be a part of this big occasion. It’s for us to do it for him,” Rohit said at the pre-match press conference in Ahmedabad.

“His [Dravid’s] role has been absolutely massive in terms of getting that clarity which I keep talking about,” added Rohit.

Rohit went onto note that while his and Dravid’s style of play were contrasting, the head coach still gave Rohit the freedom to bat with an aggressive approach.

“It’s one thing for me to think about and another thing for the coach to not agree to certain things. Clearly, looking at how Rahul bhai himself has played his cricket and how I play these days is quite contrasting. For him to agree and give me that freedom and liberty to go and play like that says a lot about him,” said the right-handed batter.

Rohit credited Dravid for standing by the players in tough situations, including India’s exit from the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-finals, when they suffered a 10-wicket defeat to England.

“Also the way he has stood by the players in difficult times, especially during and after the T20 World Cup.

“We had a good run up until the semi-finals and then we lost. And how he reacted to certain situations and informed the players about how we want to play says a lot about him as well,” added the 36-year-old.

India have not won the World Cup since 2011, the last time they lifted the trophy under the captaincy of MS Dhoni.

And to add to that, the Men in Blue will also look to end their ICC trophy drought, having last won a major ICC trophy in 2013, when they beat England to win the Champions Trophy.

India had earlier defeated Australia by six wickets when the two teams faced off in the league stage contest of the 2023 World Cup. After dismissing Australia for 199, Virat Kohli (85) and KL Rahul (97*) starred with the bat to help the hosts chase down the total in 41.2 overs.