"The best thing BCCI did is to put Rahul Dravid as the NCA head" - Jhulan Goswami

Indian women's cricket team's star pacer Jhulan Goswami has lauded the BCCI's decision of appointing Rahul Dravid at the helm of affairs at the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

She made this observation while talking about the time she spent at the Bangalore-based facility, during an interaction on Sports Today.

Jhulan Goswami was asked if Rahul Dravid made a difference to the NCA when she was there for her rehab. She responded that the former Indian captain is always around whenever any help is required, saying in this regard:

"Honestly speaking, as a cricketer, to have Rahul Dravid at the NCA, morning, evening, whenever you want any kind of small help, you just go to Rahul Dravid and just ask him."

She elaborated that apart from imparting technical knowledge, Rahul Dravid also plays the role of an excellent motivator, the most important requirement of a player recovering from an injury.

"He is there before you arrive on the ground. He gives you ideas about how to handle situations. If you ask some technical issues as a batter, he is there. If you are not in a good frame of mind, because when you are doing rehab you have a lot of negative thoughts in your mind as you don't know how you will come back, when you have Rahul Dravid over there, you can just talk to him, and he will give you lots of ideas, and he will motivate you. It is important as a professional athlete to have somebody who can motivate you, push you," added Jhulan Goswami.

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"Rahul Dravid does not say no to even one person" - Jhulan Goswami

Jhulan Goswami lauded the efforts Rahul Dravid is putting to develop Indian cricket.

Jhulan Goswami wamly lauded the BCCI for the excellent facilities provided at the NCA. She also gave examples of the motivational talk she received from Rahul Dravid during her stint at the academy, saying in this regard:

"And that infrastructure BCCI has created at the NCA is one of the best. We have quality physios like Ashish Kaushik and his team. And we are having coffee with Rahul Dravid in the morning. And he will suddenly ask if I am okay and tell me not to worry about my injury and just do my things and that I will be fine. He said - 'I know still you are the best bowler'".

Jhulan Goswami observed that Rahul Dravid is the perfect person to head the NCA, highlighting the progress made by the India under-19, India A and women's teams in his presence. She signed off by saying that she had a wonderful experience during her time at the Bengaluru-based academy.

"As a cricketer, I think the best thing BCCI did is to put Rahul Dravid as the NCA head. And NCA is performing incredibly. If you see under-19, India A, women's team, all women's programmme, he is putting all efforts to develop Indian cricket. As a cricketer, I don't know what they are thinking outside, but they are not in the system. But I am there. I know cricketers are talking to him, discussing cricket and he has never said 'no', not even to one person. I feel (that) BCCI has put the right person at the right place. That is my observation because I enjoyed there the most," concluded Jhulan Goswami.

The NCA has been in the news for all the wrong reasons in recent times, especially regarding the injury management of players like Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Wriddhiman Saha.

However, a lot of players who have spent time at the academy have lauded the facility and the help they received from Rahul Dravid during their stay there.