Published 11:10 IST, January 25th 2021
Rahul Dravid has one-line response to India's success in Australia, fans laud 'The Wall'
Former India captain Rahul Dravid's modest and short response to the credit he has been receiving for India's win in The Gabba Test, has won fans over.
Former Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid is one of the most influential figures in Indian cricket. The right-hander has been one of the most successful batsmen in the history of the sport, with a plethora of runs and records to his name across formats. However, after retirement, while most cricketers turn into commentators and analysts, Dravid decided to give back to the sport that gave him everything.
Rahul Dravid says that he is unnecessarily being credited for youngsters' performances
The Indian veteran was appointed coach of the India A and Under-19 cricket teams in 2015 and since then, he has been nurturing and grooming young talent in order to make them ready for the highest level. Dravid’s hard work and determination worked wonders as three of his students (Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill and Washington Sundar) who he coached at the Under-19 level, turned out to be architects of India’s historic win at The Gabba, which helped the visitors clinch the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1.
The young trio put in impressive performances in the India vs Australia 4th Test 2021 to guide India home. Sundar picked three wickets in his debut innings and followed it up by playing a crucial knock of 62 to reduced India’s deficit to 33 after being reduced to 186/6 in the first innings. On the other hand, while chasing a huge target of 328 on Day 5 at The Gabba, Gill laid the foundation of the chase by scoring a counter-attacking 91 while Pant finished the match playing a brilliant knock of an unbeaten 89 under immense pressure to guide India to a thrilling win.
After the game was done and dusted, Dravid’s name started trending as fans credited the former cricketer for India’s success at the highest level. Several reactions poured in as fans applauded Dravid and ascribed youngsters’ success to his efforts. Now, Dravid himself has reacted to the credit he is receiving. While speaking to The Indian Express, Dravid, in his own humble way, said that he was unnecessarily being credited. He further said that it's not him but the boys who deserve all the praise.
Dravid's reply left the Twitterati in awe as they lauded the veteran for his modesty. Fans took to Twitter and appreciated the simplicity of the man and his services for Indian cricket. Here's how fans reacted to Dravid's reply.
Rahul Dravid's term as India U-19 coach
Dravid had served as the head coach of India U-19 in back-to-back editions of the World Cup in 2016 & 2018 respectively. India had a dream run in the 2016 edition that was played in Bangladesh as they marched to the finals. However, they went down to a spirited West Indies team in a high-voltage summit clash. The team was led by wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan.
Two years later, a new look Indian U-19 team led by Prithvi Shaw steamrolled all the teams and enjoyed an unbeaten run in the tournament that was hosted in New Zealand. In the end, the Boys In Blue overcame Australia in a one-sided finale to win their record fourth ICC U-19 World Cup title.
In August 2019, 'The Wall' was replaced by Former Saurashtra captain Sitanshu Kotak and ex-India seamer Paras Mhambrey as head coaches of India A and U-19 sides respectively and since then, 'Jammy' has been serving as the NCA chief.
SOURCE: PTI
Updated 11:10 IST, January 25th 2021