Legendary Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid, famously called ‘The Wall’, hasn’t stopped one bit when it comes to serving the nation’s best interest in his contributions to the sport we hail as a religion in India. 

As the former captain readies his troops to take on the Sri Lankans in a limited-overs tour comprising of three ODIs and as many T20Is, it is significant to note that this marks Rahul Dravid’s first engagement with the Indian men’s senior cricket team as the head coach.

Ahead of the first ODI that takes place in Colombo on July 18, Dravid has been hailed as the foremost figure young uncapped Indian players would like to emulate. Right from his temperament as a player and demeanour as a person to his priceless presence as a coach, the six starlets who could be seen making a debut during the tour of Sri Lanka, want to imbibe his qualities.

With most of the senior key players along with captain Virat Kohli in England for the five-Test series against the Three Lions, a resplendent second Blues side exudes confidence under Dravid’s top-notch tutelage to get the better of their Asian rivals. 

Dravid has already been super instrumental when he decided to start ‘A’ tours and provide youngsters with top facilities at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) that proved to be a real game-changer, during his time as the Chief of NCA. 

He now has a task cut-out for him to emerge victorious over the month-long tour in Sri Lanka. Shikhar Dhawan has been given the charge of captaincy while experienced seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be second-in-command. 

In an exclusive chat on Star Sports’ show Follow The Blues, Team India’s youngsters spoke on how they are eager to learn from Dravid’s ‘down to earth’ character and ‘calm nature’ on and off the field. 

With six of the uncapped IPL star candidates making it to their maiden International cricket tour for the Blues, Devdutt Paddikal, Nitish Rana and Chetan Sakaria couldn’t stop gushing over being given the chance to work with Dravid. 

“Being from the same school, the first time I actually met him was in one of our sports day events at school, where I had to present him with a bouquet – that is when I spoke to him for the first time. I have always been awestruck by how incredibly calm and gentle a human being he is. To have achieved so much in cricket and to be so down to earth, humble and kind towards everyone is incredible to watch.” said Devdutt Padikkal. 

“To have him as our coach, you couldn’t ask for anything more and to have a mentor like him beside you, it’s just a great feeling, and hopefully, I can pick up a lot of things from him,” shared the stylish 21-year-old left-handed RCB opener. 

Next in line of The Rahul Dravid cult fan following is none other than KKR southpaw Nitish Rana – who shared the same emotion as Padikkal of looking forward to working with Dravid. 

“I have heard that Rahul Dravid as a coach is similar to Rahul Dravid as a player. I wish I could bring even one per cent of the patience he has within me; it will be a big achievement for me,” said Rana.

The young 23-year-old pacer from Saurashtra, Chetan Sakaria was all praise for the new head coach as well.

“I would want to learn how he was so determined when the opposing teams like Australia and England; played dominant cricket. I want to understand how he troubled them and how he could achieve so much with sheer determination. I want to learn and understand the process which goes behind that mindset,” he said. 

Apart from these three, the other guns from India’s youth brigade who showered enough gratitude and good fortune to have this opportunity of honing their cricketing skills under the NCA head include Sanju Samson and K Gowtham. 

India’s squad for Sri Lanka tour: Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan (Wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (Wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Vice-captain), Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya

Net Bowlers: Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warrier, Arshdeep Singh, Sai Kishore, Simarjeet Singh