Rahul... avidly making teens rise and shine
The Indiaa and Under19 players realise how fortunate they are to be able to tap into the vast reservoirs of wisdom nestling in the Rahul Dravid brain.
Had prudence prevailed and egos not got in the way, there is every chance that India could have spared itself the embarrassing overseas Test batting displays that have been an unedifying feature this year.
When the Cricket Advisory Committee convened last year to button down the national head coach in the aftermath of Anil Kumble’s resignation, it recommended Ravi Shastri to that position. It also nomin ated Rahul Dravid as batting consultant for overseas Test matches, in addition to his twin responsibilities of coaching the Indiaa and the India Under19 sides.
Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and V. V. S. Laxman were not working the Old Boys’ Club. They didn’t pull Dravid’s name out of a hat, or because they had shared a dressing room with him for nearly a decade and a half. In their collective wisdom — stemming from a combined 56 years of international cricket, 447 Test matches and nearly 32,000 Test runs — they recognised the value Dravid brings. The decisionmakers chose to overlook the CAC’S mandate; red faces aren’t out of order now.
There is no guarantee that had Dravid worked with the senior team ahead of and during its tours of South Africa in January and England now, it would have lit up the cricketing landscape. Dravid doesn’t have a magic wand, and he certainly can’t go out and bat for a Cheteshwar Pujara or an Ajinkya Rahane. But his experience, expertise and communication skills would have made a difference. They could have helped better a dismal record of only two team totals in excess of 250 in 10 Test innings in South Africa and England. They could have contributed to tighter techniques against the moving ball, they could have uncluttered anxious minds. After all, when Dravid worked in the capacity of a batting consultant in the leadup to the Test series in England in 2014 at the insistence of then coach Duncan Fletcher, the batting unit responded with totals of 457, 391, 295, 342 and 330 in the first five innings before tapering off.
Even as Virat Kohli’s men are floundering overseas, Dravid is busy polishing rough, uncut diamonds in the conviction that in time to come, they will sparkle on the world stage. When he came on board in June 2015 as the Indiaa and India Under19 coach, it was obvious that he wasn’t in it for a lark. He recognised the signific