Former India pace bowler Irfan Pathan has praised Rahul Dravid, citing that the batting great has the ability to instil confidence and self-belief in players which can motivate them to give their best in adverse situations as well. Dravid is the Head Coach of the Indian team that will play against Sri Lanka in a limited-overs series.
Meanwhile, Irfan Pathan recalled an old incident from the 2007 World Cup which showed the qualities of Dravid – the mentor and the leader as well. While speaking on a show on Star Sports, Pathan shared Dravid’s communication skills and his ability to understand every player’s need too.
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“It’s all about comfort. You perform much better with a coach or a captain, whom you are comfortable playing with. What Rahul Bhai brings in is – clear communication. Even when he was the leader for the Indian cricket team, if anyone had any problem, they could just go up to him and talk about it very freely. I remember an incident – when we lost the 2007 (ODI) World Cup – we were in West Indies – he came up to me & Mahendra Singh Dhoni and said, ‘look, I know we all are upset, let’s go for a movie. We went for the movie and then we had half an hour to ask him things,” quoted Pathan.
Notably, Rahul Dravid was the captain of the Indian team which had a poor show in the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean but even after that he did not lose hope and motivated his team and players constantly to do well.
“He said, yes, we lost this World Cup, we wanted to make a difference, but this is not the end of it; life is much bigger; we will come back tomorrow. That’s the kind of character he is. He is always looking to put any cricketer in a positive frame of mind,” further added Pathan.
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However, in Ravi Shastri’s absence, Rahul Dravid has taken the job for the series in Sri Lanka and it will provide a great opportunity for him to showcase his worth as a coach and mentor as well. He has already coached the India A and Under-19 teams and emerged successful too as well as the Head of the NCA in Bengaluru.
And Irfan Pathan believed that even if someone hit the rough patch in Sri Lanka, they would have the number 1 man in a crisis to go to for advice as well. “If unfortunately (in Sri Lanka), anyone goes out of form, he will be the first one to guide him and give him confidence,” concluded Pathan.
