Rahul Dravid jokes about getting abused after dropping players from Indian team as captain

Former Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid is widely regarded as one of the greatest Test batsmen of all time. The decorated campaigner also enjoyed some success as the captain of the Indian cricket team. He was Sourav Ganguly’s deputy and became a full-time skipper in 2005 until 2007. Apparently, Rahul Dravid was also a ‘motivational’ and a ‘fabulous’ captain according to some of his ex-teammates such as Mohammad Kaif, Gautam Gambhir and Irfan Pathan.

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Rahul Dravid jokingly opens up about getting abused by players after motivating them

In June 2019, Rahul Dravid along with his former teammates Mohammad Kaif and Ajit Agarkar appeared on Viu India's Show Cricket Diaries. In the show, Mohammad Kaif praised Rahul Dravid’s captaincy era by saying that the 164-Test veteran was a highly motivational leader. The former cricketer also revealed that captain Dravid used to personally call players himself in order to motivate them after they were dropped from the side by him and the team management.

After Mohammad Kaif’s revelation, the legendary batsman laughingly admitted to motivating teammates and said that it actually led him sometimes to get abused by them. He jokingly said that he often wondered why he did he do that and further refused to reveal the names of those cricketers who abused him.

Mohammad Kaif praises Rahul Dravid’s ‘motivational’ captaincy tenure, watch video

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Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Pathan talk about captain Rahul Dravid

Former Indian opening batsman Gautam Gambhir recently stated that Rahul Dravid was a more impactful captain as compared to his good friend Sourav Ganguly. While interacting on the Star Sports’ Show Cricket Connected, Gambhir said that it is “unfortunate” to see the legendary batsman not getting enough credit for his captaincy as fans only talk about either Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni and current skipper Virat Kohli. The 2011 World Cup-winner described Rahul Dravid as a “fabulous captain” for India.

In an Instagram Live chat show ‘Beyond the Field’ in June, former cricketer Irfan Pathan also praised Rahul Dravid’s captaincy run. The all-rounder said that the ex-skipper was such who always thought differently and was very clear in his communication. Irfan Pathan also said that whenever Rahul Dravid gave a task, one has to work on it accordingly. Suresh Raina also lauded Dravid's tactical genius recently by remembering a catch he took off Irfan Pathan's bowling in an ODI in Pakistan in 2006 thanks to 'The Wall' putting pressure on the victim, Kamran Akmal of Pakistan.

Rahul Dravid’s captaincy record

In 25 Tests and 79 ODIs as captain, Rahul Dravid led India to 8 and 42 wins in both formats respectively. His biggest achievements in Tests includes leading India to series wins in West Indies and England. When he stepped down from captaincy in 2007, he was succeeded by Anil Kumble in Tests and MS Dhoni as limited-overs captain.

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Image credit: Rahul Dravid's screenshot from Viu India YouTube