Mumbai: They say retirement carries an entity into the world of tranquil but in his case, it’s different. Former India cricketer Rahul Dravid’s platter is still full of thrill and sweat. Apart from mentoring IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals, he is also the coach of India ‘A’. The 42-year-old, at one-time colleague Aakash Chopra’s book launch ‘The Insider’ at the Cricket Club of India here on Friday, spoke about the grammar of the sport.
Dravid – poetic on his feet during his glorious days – stressed on the importance of footwork among batsmen even in the age of T20.
“Good legs will never go out of fashion,” he said.
Though he agreed that a hand and eye coordination is also a gift of God but not every cricketer is blessed with that.
“There has been good hands like that of Virender Sehwag. He made it to the top despite lacking the feet movement. So if you do not have that, you need to be a Sehwag to survive and not everyone can be him,” added Dravid.
Talking about wider stance seen among the batsmen of the current generation, Dravid refuted citing the example of West Indies great Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
He also said that the key is to be comfortable in the middle.
“It is all about performances and as long as you can do that, it is fine. Wider stance is not a problem. Having said that, who will argue with Chanderpaul’s records and longevity? New questions come up with different phases and generations. When Muttiah Muralitharan started the doosra, it took me a while to figure that out, that was a question during those days,” he pointed.
The former captain, who shone in all formats of the sport (Tests, ODI, T20) equally, also praised the IPL for providing a platform to young cricketers.
“Who would not like to play IPL with 50,000 people watching you? It is also rewarding. But during my days, it was different. When I started, I wanted to be like Sunil Gavaskar and bat throughout the innings. But with time, perceptions changed. The World Cup in 1992 (in Australia) with all the glamour made me think ‘I want to be a part of it’ and gradually, in 1996 when it was held in the subcontinent, I felt ‘this is it’,” he added.
However, Dravid’s heydays never had T20 matches to set the stage for a tournament.
“Our preparations included three-day games. As a young cricketer, you need these opportunities to prepare yourself. I remember going from one venue to the other to play First-class games,” asserted Dravid, who has 13,288 runs in Tests with 36 hundreds and 63 half-centuries.
Dravid personified the art of batting time. One may recall how he, along with VVS Laxman, batted throughout the fourth day of a Test match (against Australia at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata in 2001) and turned the tide for India.
How does he balance the attack and defence with ferocious bowlers steaming in?
“Well, a lot of batsmen want to go out and play shots but attack is also the best defence. Though there is no harm staying positive but one also needs to adjust to the field placements. In a Test, it is really hard to go out and hit a six,” said Dravid, who is also a veteran of 344 ODIs with 12 centuries and 83 half-centuries.
But Dravid seemed a bit defensive when asked what, according to him, should be the Indian batting order for the forthcoming series against South Africa and whether Ajinkya Rahane should bat at No 3?
“He is a good No 5. Though he has excelled in No 3 but I feel with the second new ball, he will do good. India has plenty of options with KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma all scoring runs in the series against Sri Lanka.
“When we retired, since many of us called it a day at the same time, we were eager to know about the next batting line-up and I see a good, young talent pushing through,” he said.
