‘People don’t even know my name’: Rahul Dravid recalls funny incident after first century in school cricket

Bindra asked Dravid about the time when he scored a century in school cricket and his name was printed in the newspaper but the paper got his name wrong and called him Rahul David.

“The editor obviously thought that there was a spelling mistake and there could be no one as Dravid. So, it had to be David, right?” Dravid said.

“Because it’s a lot more common name. So, I think it was a good lesson for me as well to realize that while I might be really happy and excited about scoring a 100 in school cricket but I am still not well known. And people don’t even know my name.

They can’t even trust my name to be right and have to change it,” Dravid added.

Rahul ‘David’ recounts a crucial lesson he learnt after scoring his 1st century in school cricket. Tune in to my podcast ‘In the Zone’ to dissect the mind of THE gentleman from the gentleman’s game.@under25universe https://t.co/A9iUknxEMu #InTheZoneWithAB #Under25Original pic.twitter.com/v2CAvNAPRB

— Abhinav A. Bindra OLY (@Abhinav_Bindra) July 25, 2022

A few years ago, Dravid had shared how he derived inspiration from Bindra when he clinched victory in the Olympics and how that ‘emboldened’ him to ‘give that one last push’ with his career.

“In 2008, I was in the middle of a lean patch. The runs had dried up and I was on the wrong side of the 30s. That isn’t a good territory in Indian cricket. I needed to pick myself up, I wanted to. I knew I had at least a couple of years of cricket left in me. Around this time, I watched with glee as Abhinav Bindra shot his way towards an Olympic gold in Beijing. I still remember the adrenaline rush that I felt at that time. Reading Abhinav’s autobiography was fascinating for me. I think his story must be read by anyone on the quest for excellence,” Dravid had said.

“Abhinav’s achievement emboldened me to give it that last push with my own career to dig deep again and to do whatever it took, as difficult as it might seem. His no-shortcuts, no-excuses approach is something we can all aspire for, in whatever tasks big or small that we undertake,” he added.