In future, I would love to coach Team India: Rahul Dravid

Rahul Dravid

Retired Indian batting great Rahul Dravid, while delivering Dilip Sardesai memorial lecture, expressed his desire to coach the Indian cricket team sometime in the future. Speaking on a number of issues related to cricket including that of chucking, the Karnataka batsman said that it shouldn’t be looked at as a crime and that the players suspended should be allowed to return after modifying their action.

Lavishing praises on Dilip Sardesai, who passed away in 2007 aged 66, the 41-year-old said: “He (Dilip Sardesai) showed us how to play fast bowling and in doing so gave us the confidence we needed to beat the West Indies. One of his great strengths was that he was always very positive, and he spread that through the team.”

Sardesai, hailing from Mumbai, represented India in 30 Test matches, scoring 2001 runs at an average of 39.23.

When asked if he would be willing to coach the Indian cricket team, Dravid said: “I think there’s a time and place for everything. I’ve enjoyed being in media and mentoring Rajasthan Royals. But yeah in future I would love to be a coach of an Indian team or even the Rajasthan Ranji team.”

Wives/girlfriends should be allowed

On whether wives/girlfriends of players should be allowed during tours, with that being cited as one of the reasons for India’s miserable 1-3 loss in the recently concluded Test series in England, he said: “I think wives, girlfriends should be allowed to travel with players. Wives, girlfriends, any gender (laughs) should be allowed. You can’t start blaming the wives and girlfriends for poor performance. In fact if you don’t allow them then that would be a bigger problem.”

On if he finds the current generation of Indian players caring enough about the longer format of the game, he said: “Guys like Rahane, Kohli and Pujara don’t ask me questions about T20 but they keep asking me about Test cricket. I think they care a lot about it.

“They are always willing to talk about it. But their touch with history is not as good as it should be. They live in the age of internet. They are willing to watch a YouTube clip about Gavaskar batting but they won’t go deep to research about it.”

Chucking isn’t a crime

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has dished out suspensions to a number of bowlers for bowling with an illegal action, of late. With world number 1 Saeed Ajmal being the most notable victim, Dravid, on the ICC’s move to clean up, said: “I think ICC has a rule in place. When they reviewed a lot of old footage they found a lot of former cricketers were doing it too. Glenn McGrath also had a bend but let me make it clear McGrath wasn’t chucking.

“What I am glad about is they are strict about this.They also have kept it consistent. We shouldn’t look at chucking as a crime. It’s like no-ball. Nobody says you are cheating. You should allow them to go back correct their action and come back.”

The former Indian Test No. 3 also thinks that One Day Internationals (ODIs) will stuggle for existence. He said: “I think ODI cricket without a context will struggle. All other ODI cricket should be geared towards preparing for World Cup and Champions Trophy. People can play lesser ODI cricket and focus more.”

Mankad-Pankaj Roy opening record

Recalling the incident when Dravid, partnering Virender Sehwag for the first wicket, ended 3 runs short of a world-record opening partnership of 413 runs – still held by Indian pair of Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy, as Sehwag attempted a careless shot over third man only to be pouched by wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal in a Test match back in 2006 at Lahore, Dravid said: ”People came to me and say, how could he play such a shot, you were close to the record. But the fact that we reached here was because Sehwag played that way.

“When it comkes to record, if I had said about the record, then Viru would’ve said ‘eeh’ But I was aware of it, I was counting it down, I was hoping Viru will hit a boundary.”