Rahul "The Wall" Dravid encourages his son Samit to smash it while batting

File photo of Rahul Dravid and his older son Samit

Former Indian cricketer and present India ‘A’ coach, Rahul Dravid, was famously known as “The Wall” for his defensive abilities during his cricketing career. While speaking to Wisden India, Dravid opened up about his older son Samit and the style of cricket his son adopts.

10-year-old Samit Dravid was recently in the news for his performances for his school, Mallya Aditi International School, when he led them to the Under-12 Inter-School Gopalan Challenge Cup title. Dravid, on being asked whether Samit was in his mould, told Wisden India that his son plays in quite a contrasting style to him.

“He’s ok, he’s got good hand-eye coordination. But no, he just smashes it and that is what I encourage him to do – just smash it,” Dravid said.

Dravid believes that Samit is too young to start receiving advice on the way to approach his batting. “No, no, I don’t really get into trying to coach him too much. I just want him to enjoy it and just play the game, have some fun with it. He plays different sports at the moment, which is good – they (both his sons) play football and they play cricket, they swim. So that’s nice. He is too young at the moment for anything more,” he said.

Having a famous surname might very well put Samit under pressure as he slowly makes his way up the ranks. Rahul Dravid is aware of this and believes that his son will learn to deal with the weight of expectations.

“I guess there are some advantages of being my son, there are going to be some disadvantages of being my son. Sometimes, you want to grow up as children in an anonymous situation, without pressure and without people watching you, noticing you. Especially when you are growing up, you want to be a bit anonymous, you want to just do your thing. That might not be possible for him. But that’s the way it is and he has got to deal with it,” Dravid observed.

After Dravid had retired, his wife Vijeeta had revealed Samit gained a huge interest in cricket after India’s tour of South Africa in 2010-11. Dravid rarely discusses cricket with his children, although the kids watch a fair bit of the game.

“Not a lot, I must admit. The kids enjoy watching cricket, so during the IPL time, there are a lot more discussions about cricket because they are watching the IPL games and they are following what’s happening. Also during the Ashes. It’s more really around the matches that are being played,” Dravid admitted.

Amidst the impending pressure and attention on him, it remains to be seen whether Samit grows into a swashbuckling batsman or into a technical one like his legendary father.