Ind vs Nz 2021: KL Rahul says, Rahul Dravid will put the team ahead of personal goals

The Indian Cricket team is preparing under the new head coach, Rahul Dravid, and new captain, Rohit Sharma for upcoming Ind vs Nz 2021. Each and everyone is expecting a lot from the new head coach as the team failed to win titles and trophies in ICC events in the last few years.

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The new vice-captain, KL Rahul believes that Rahul Dravid will be bringing a new culture to the team where the cricketers will put the team above themselves. Both Rahul Dravid and KL Rahul are players of Karnataka and the latter knows Dravid well since he was coming up the age group ranks.

KL Rahul on Rahul Dravid:

KL Rahul said in a press conference a few days before India's first T20I against New Zealand in Jaipur, "I've been very fortunate that I've known him for a very long time. Obviously, as a youngster I did try and pick his brain and I did understand the game better and understand the art of batting better from him, and he's been more than kind and he's been very helpful to all of us back home in Karnataka."

Rahul further added, "When it comes to coaching, I've played a couple of games with the India A set-up , and we've had a small chat just before coming out here for training, and he's somebody who's big on setting a good team culture and creating an atmosphere where people are thriving and trying to get better as people and as cricketers. He's always been a team man when he was playing, and that's the kind of culture he wants to bring in here as well, where everyone's putting the team ahead of personal goals."

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Ind vs Nz 2021 is also the first series Rohit Sharma will be leading the Indian T20I cricket team as a full-time captain. KL believes that Rohit is already a proven leader as he led Mumbai Indians in IPL to clinch the trophy 5 times. Also, he believes that he will play and improve his role by bringing calmness and tactical sense.

Rahul praised Rohit Sharma and his captaincy:

KL Rahul said, "There's nothing new about Rohit being captain. "For as long as I can remember, he's been Mumbai Indians' captain, and his stats are there for everybody to see. He has a great understanding of the game and tactically he's really, really good, and that's why he's been able to achieve the kind of things that he has as a leader. "We all enjoy watching Rohit bat and we all enjoy having him in the dressing room. He's a great guy to be around, so I'm sure he's excited and all of us in the team are excited to play under Rohit and he'll bring a lot of calm into the dressing room."

Rahul also added, "The next few weeks or the next few days will be exciting, to understand what kind of goals he has and what kind of culture and - I got asked this question before - what kind of template we're looking to play. The more we talk to him in the next couple of days, I'll also understand it better and maybe be able to give you that answer the next time I have this conversation. It's a big change in Indian cricket, so we're all looking forward and really excited about it."

Rahul spoke on his new responsibility:

He also spoke about his role as a vice-captain and said that he will try his best to work with the rest of the leadership group to form an appropriate and secure environment for all the cricketers. He said, "I think it's a collective effort. Whatever happens in a team sport, it's always a collective decision, and the leadership group becomes really important in making sure that everybody's feeling comfortable, everybody is clear about their roles, everybody is feeling secure in the team, and I think that will be an exciting challenge for all of us, to create that kind of environment, and we're really looking forward to it."