Cricket legend Rahul Dravid reacted on India's historic Test series triumph in Australia with a typically modest reply when he was praised for producing players like Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj and the likes at the first-class level for the national team.
Dravid, who is the current head of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, is being praised by cricket pundits from all over the world for his role in shaping the careers of young Indian cricketers like Siraj, Gill, Navdeep Saini, Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar.
The aforementioned rookie cricketers played a crucial role in India's stunning Test win in Brisbane last week which helped them retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the second time in succession Down Under.
Dravid coached the India A and U-19 teams from 2016 to 2019 after which he was given charge of the NCA but he continues to work closely with young Indian players and monitors their progress on a regular basis.
He also played a big role in the induction of Hanuma Vihari and Prithvi Shaw into the Test side two years ago.
But the former India captain wants absolutely no credit for the youngsters' success, as was clear with his one-line reply when he was contacted by the Sunday Express.
“Ha ha, unnecessary credit, the boys deserve all the praise,” Dravid wrote.
Gill, Siraj, Pant and Sundar were particularly impressive in the final Test which India won by 3 wickets to become the first team to beat Australia at the Gabba in 32 years.
Gill top-scored with 91 in the record run chase of 328 on Day 5 while Pant anchored the innings with 89 not out to take India past the finish line.
This happened before Siraj took his maiden five-wicket haul in Australia's 2nd innings while Sundar scored 84 runs (62 & 22) and bagged 4 wickets in the match to cap off an all-round performance.
Gill ended up as India's 3rd highest scorer with 258 runs while Siraj was the team's highest wicket-taker with 13 in 3 games.
The youngsters stepped up stood stun Australia in the final two Tests after India lost 8 of its first-team players to injuries during the series while regular captain Virat Kohli had returned home after the opening game in Adelaide last month.