Rahul Dravid bats for inclusion of T20 Cricket in the prestigious Olympic Games

Former Indian skipper Rahul Dravid has backed T20 cricket to become an Olympic sport saying that he is all for the expansion of the game.

Manoj Badale, lead owner of the IPL franchise Rajasthan in association with Simon Hughes on Friday announced the launch of their new book, 'A New Innings'. The book was launched through a virtual seminar and Dravid also took part in the seminar.

'Get into the Olympics': Rahul Dravid

"I think it will be great if the T20 format of the game can become an Olympic sport. Obviously, it will come with its challenges. Also, cricket is a game that requires a certain kind of facility for it to be successful," Dravid said during the virtual seminar.

"We have seen in the just-concluded IPL, the success of IPL was on large part due to the quality of wickets... if you can get all of that right and get the facilities in place then why not. I am certainly for the expansion of the T20 game. If it is possible, cricket should endeavor to try and get into the Olympics," he added.

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Rahul Dravid's illustrious cricketing career

Dravid had first burst onto the scene at the highest level in June 1996 during the second Test match against England at the 'Mecca of Cricket'- Lord's. He narrowly missed out on his maiden Test century as he was caught behind for a superb 95. 

The ex-Indian captain is one of the few batsmen to have scored over 10,000 runs in both Test and One Day International Cricket. 

Sourav Ganguly's captaincy ended in 2005 after his fallout with former Australian cricketer/captain-turned coach Greg Chappell. Dravid who was Ganguly's deputy till that point in time succeeded him in 2005 and captained the national team till 2007. Under his tenure, Team India beat Pakistan 4-1 in away ODI series in early 2006, registered their first-ever Test series win against West Indies on Caribbean soil after a long wait of 35 years, won a Test series in England the following year, and registered 17 consecutive wins while chasing in One-Day International cricket.

The lowest point in his captaincy career happened when the Men In Blue had suffered a humiliating group-stage exit in World Cup 2007 after losing their opening match against the then minnows Bangladesh and a must-win encounter against the eventual runners-up Sri Lanka. He relinquished captaincy after a bilateral series against England later that year. Mahendra Singh Dhoni succeeded him as the Indian limited-overs captain while spin legend Anil Kumble was appointed as the Test skipper till his retirement in late 2008. 

The champion batsman announced his retirement from international cricket in March 2012 and continued playing franchise cricket for another year before calling it a day in October 2013.

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(With ANI Inputs)