India head coach Rahul Dravid is regarded as a gentleman in the cricketing world who respects the game and his colleagues and is hardly seen reacting to anything on and off the field. However, in the first game of the three-match ODI series against West Indies, India's coach lost his composure for a while during the last over of the match. India won the match by three runs. The game went down the wire. M Siraj was bowling the last over with 15 runs to defend. Rahul who was in the stands with the rest of the players lost his calm ahead of the last ball of the over. It looks like he was not happy with the field placement. Nevertheless, Siraj bowled a perfect yorker to hand India a 1-0 lead in the series.
No shortage of action & emotions! _ _
_ Scenes as #TeamIndia seal a thrilling win in the first #WIvIND ODI in Trinidad _ pic.twitter.com/rkpiPi3yOQ
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 23, 2022
The last known incident of Dravid losing his calm came way back in 2014 season of the IPL, Dravid somewhat lost his cool as the talismanic leader of the Rajasthan-based franchise scripted the infamous cap-throwing incident in the cash-rich league. Showcasing his aggressive nature on the television screens, Dravid was seen throwing his cap in an uncharacteristic manner following Rajasthan's ouster from domestic cricket's biggest extravaganza - the IPL. In a dramatic finish against Rajasthan Royals, Aditya Tare's heroics had powered Rohit Sharma's Mumbai Indians (MI) to a miraculous qualification to the playoffs at the time.
Coming back to the match, Siraj had to defend 15 runs in the final over to give India a victory in the ODI series opener. He produced five yorkers in the final over to choke the big-hitting all-rounder Romario Shepherd, conceding just 11 runs to give India a narrow victory and take 1-0 lead in three-match series. India were also helped by the fact that wicketkeeper Sanju Samson dived full-length to his left to save four byes, conceding just a wide.
"We had full confidence (of a win). The way Siraj was bowling his yorkers, that we could defend 15 runs in the over. It was because a couple of overs earlier, I think he missed just one or two yorkers. But there is always a bit of pressure, especially the way they were batting as one hit could have changed the match. When Sanju (Samson) made that stop off the wide, our confidence increased further," said Chahal in the post-match press conference.
