The juniors of the Indian team were lucky that they learned to play from Rahul Dravid: Sanju Samson
Ahead of India’s white-ball tour of Sri Lanka starting on July 18, the likes of Sanju Samson and Devdut Padikkal were all praising series head coach Rahul Dravid and praising his “calm” and “humble” character on Thursday.
With Virat Kohli and other key players in England for the upcoming five-Test series against the hosts, a new-look India will take on Sri Lanka in a limited-overs tour, comprising of three ODIs and as many T20Is.
India will be led by senior batsman Shikhar Dhawan and seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be his deputy.
In an interaction on Star Sports’ show Follow The Blues, wicketkeeper-batsman Samson talked about how fortunate the young guns are to have learnt the trade from the legendary Dravid, who played in 164 Tests and 344 ODIs for India.
“Each and every individual in the India A side or the juniors going into the Indian team have been fortunate to go through a person called Rahul Dravid. We are very lucky to learn our cricket from him,” said Samson.
“I remember going to the Rajasthan Royals trials one day – I batted really well – and he came up to me and asked me a question ‘can you play for my team?’. So, that was the biggest moment of my life, and I can never forget that. That shows how great a human being he is, and I really enjoy his company.”
Opener Padikkal pitched in the conversation too.
“I have always been awestruck by how incredibly calm and gentle a human being he is. To have achieved so much in cricket and to be so down-to-earth, humble and kind towards everyone is incredible to watch. To have him as our coach, you couldn’t ask for anything more,” said the 21-year-old.
Nitish Rana, the Kolkata Knight Riders opener, expressed his desire to develop patience similar to the 48-year-old Dravid.
“I have heard that Rahul Dravid as a coach is similar to Rahul Dravid as a player. I wish I could bring even one per cent of the patience he has within me; it will be a big achievement for me,” he said.
