"Always knew Rohit was a special talent." New head coach Rahul Dravid and T20 captain Rohit Sharma address their first press conference together...
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00:00I think just out of under-19 and it was a young kid coming through and
00:05we all knew that Rohit was going to be special.
00:08The mental and physical well-being of the players will be the most important thing.
00:13I have cherished all the moments that I have spent playing for India
00:18and also for my franchisee, Mumbai.
00:30We were talking about it yesterday on the bus.
00:40We were just chatting about it.
00:42And yeah, I mean, I guess time flies, doesn't it?
00:47I mean, I certainly knew that, you know, when Rohit walked in,
00:52I actually remember him even before Ireland,
00:55when we were playing a challenger trophy in Madras.
00:57He came, I think, just out of under-19 and it was a young kid coming through.
01:01And we all knew that Rohit was going to be special.
01:06He could just see that this was a very, very special talent
01:10that I would in so many years later be working with him.
01:14That I never thought about or never envisaged.
01:17But it's just lovely to see, honestly, the way Rohit has grown as a leader,
01:23as a person over these last, what is it, 14 years now.
01:27The first time I had the opportunity to interact with him was in Bangalore.
01:33I think we had this batsman's camp before these guys went to Bangladesh.
01:40So that was the first time it was a very brief chat.
01:43And I was actually kind of very nervous.
01:46And I never used to talk so much, even with my age group people.
01:51So leave alone these guys at that point.
01:54It's been a long way since then and today.
01:57I have cherished all the moments that I have spent playing for India.
02:03And also for my franchisee, Mumbai and all of that.
02:07So it's been lovely.
02:08In times like this, we need to be in the conversation with the players.
02:11We need to respect.
02:13I think for me, the players' sort of physical and mental health
02:17is the most important thing.
02:19I will always be in conversation with them.
02:21And I'd like to work with them to ensure that whenever they're playing,
02:25we have them fresh, we have them fully switched on.
02:29We are already seeing with some of the selections
02:31that we might not be able to play every single player
02:34who plays all the formats of the game in every single game.
02:36But I think we need to just accept that as reality.
02:39Therein lies an opportunity for other guys to step up
02:43and come in and use the opportunity to do well and show us what they have.
02:46Certain principles of coaching will never change.
02:48They are always the same.
02:49But of course, the teams that you coach,
02:51they come with a unique set of challenges,
02:53unique set of requirements.
02:55You can't say that everything I did in under-19 level,
02:58I will do here.
02:59I mean, that would not be the way I would go about things.
03:02If we are playing all year,
03:04then we will definitely have to manage their workload.
03:07Whether we manage it in the team or by giving them a break.
03:10Every case will be different.
03:12But as I said earlier,
03:14the mental and physical well-being of the players
03:18will be the most important thing.
03:21We will work in and around that.
03:24Of course, the team will also take priority.
03:26So, it's a balancing act.
03:28Based on the games that we are playing,
03:31roles will keep changing and everyone is open to that.
03:34And I'm sure when Virat comes back,
03:37it can only strengthen our team
03:39because of the experience,
03:41because of the kind of batsman he is.
03:43It's going to add up to our squad.