Rahul Dravid shows great gesture after India’s loss to Nepal in U-19 Asia Cup

Rahul Dravid is the coach of India U-19 team. (Source: Express Archive)

India suffered their first ever loss at the hands of Nepal at any level on Sunday when the neighbours beat India in the U-19 Asia Cup in Malaysia. While it was dishearting for the defending champions, India coach Rahul Dravid has been the gentleman known for his calmness in the game. He once again showed the spirit of the game when he went to the Nepal team and congratulated it.

“Dravid has been very humble. He congratulated us,” Nepal coach Binod Kumar Das was quoted as saying by ESPNcricnfo. “He said we deserved this win as much as anybody else. He also said we played better than anybody else in the tournament. We are happy he acknowledges our effort. We are thrilled to have his support with us. We are all very excited about it because we have never beaten India at any level,” Das said. “Knowing India’s strength it is one of the biggest wins for us.”

On a slow and turning track in Kuala Lumpur, Nepal defending a total of 185 despite India getting a good start in the chase. India were bowled out for 166 therefore losing the match by 19 runs. Dipendra Singh Airee, captain of the side, led from the front with an impressive 88 and then used his spin to take 4 wickets for 39 runs. He ran through India’s middle-order to give Nepal the win.

“We can take a lot of pride in fielding and also in our bowling. Today was another example of executing that. India got off to a good start, but we managed to pull them back,” Das said.