Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Rana and Chetan Sakariya, who have been selected for Team India for the first time, are happy to have Rahul Dravid as the coach for their first international series.
All three players mentioned during a programme, ahead of the ODI series against Sri Lanka, that they desire to learn Rahul Dravid’s qualities. For the Sri Lanka tour Dravid, the head of the National Cricket Academy, has been appointed as the head coach. The Test team is currently on England tour. The team will play three ODIs and three T20 matches while in Sri Lanka. The ODI series will begin on July 18 in Colombo.
Recalling his first meeting with Dravid, Padikkal said at the programme on Star Sports, “We both are from the same school and for the first time I met him during our school sports day where I had to present him a flower-bouquet. There I spoke to him for the first time.”
The 21-year-old left handed batsman from Karnataka is very impressed by Rahul Dravid’s humble nature. Palikkal said, “Dravid being our coach, you can’t ask for more, and having a mentor like him with you, it’s a great feeling and I hope I can learn a lot from him."
Nitish Rana, another left-handed batsman who plays domestic cricket for Delhi, is also excited about learning from Dravid. “I have heard that Rahul Dravid as a coach and as a player is the same. It will be a huge accomplishment for me if I can simply bring a fraction of his patience.
Similarly Chetan Sakariya, a promising fast bowler from Saurashtra, aspires to be as dedicated as Dravid. “I want to know how he was so passionate when teams like Australia and England dominated. I want to understand how he used to hassle them with his batting and how he achieved so much with his dedication.”
“I’d like to discover and understand what’s going on in his head”, Sakariya added.
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