“In Kanpur, after day’s practice, he was picking up cones and wickets” - Sourav Ganguly on Rahul Dravid’s humility

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly has hailed Team India coach Rahul Dravid for maintaining his humility despite his glorious achievements in cricket.

Revealing a latest incident as an example of his down-to-earth nature, Ganguly said that Dravid was carrying cones and wickets back to the dressing room after a practice session in Kanpur.

India took on New Zealand in the first Test of the two-match series in Kanpur last month. The game was Dravid’s first assignment as full-time coach of the Indian team in the longest format of the sport. He took charge of the side during the preceding T20I series against the Kiwis, which India won 3-0.

Asked to share his views on his long-time mate, who has taken up one of the toughest jobs in Indian cricket, Ganguly said in an interview with News18:

“I wish him (Dravid) all the best. I heard that in Kanpur, after the day’s practice he was picking up the cones and wickets and balls and bringing them back to the dressing room. It must have been a great sight for cameramen and photographers to see Rahul Dravid do that (smiles). But he is that sort of a person.”

Ganguly also assured:

“We will support him and Rohit and Virat in test cricket whichever way they want.”

Team India’s next assignment will be the tour of South Africa, where they will play three Tests and as many ODIs, starting with the Boxing Day Test at the SuperSport Park in Centurion.

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“Personally requested him not to give up T20 captaincy” - Sourav Ganguly on Virat Kohli

There has been a bit of controversy in Indian cricket following BCCI’s decision to replace Virat Kohli as ODI captain and give the post to Rohit Sharma. Ganguly has already informed that the cricket board had requested Kohli not to step down as T20I skipper. Shedding further light on the matter, Ganguly explained:

“It’s like I said… I personally requested him (Kohli) not to give up T20 captaincy. Obviously, he felt the workload. Which is fine, he has been a great cricketer, he has been very intense with his cricket. He has captained for a long period of time and these things happen. Because I have captained for a long period of time; therefore, I know. Also, they wanted only one white-ball captain. And that’s why this decision. I don’t know what’s going to happen in future. But as I said, it’s a good team and it has some fantastic players and I hope they will turn it around.”

Following the latest development in Indian cricket, Kohli will lead the team during the Test series in South Africa while Rohit will take over the reins for the three-match ODI series.