Paddy Upton Reveals How Indian Youngsters Are Reaping Rewards Of Success Courtesy Rahul Dravid

Former Indian support staff Paddy Upton has revealed how the Indian youngsters are reaping rewards of success due to the influence of former legendary batsman Rahul Dravid. Dravid was the head coach of India A as well as the U19 Indian team where the likes of Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw, Washington Sundar have all taken part and in 2018 India won the U19 WorldCup under Prithvi Shaw’s captaincy and coach Rahul Dravid.

Rahul Dravid is now the head coach of the National Cricket Academy(NCA) where a lot of youngsters have been groomed to take part in domestic tournaments. India won the series 2-1 against Australia in Australia for the second time consecutively and a lot of experts have praised Rahul Dravid for the success of the youngsters during the tour.

The inexperienced youngsters played with no fear and won the series for India for which Dravid is being credited in promoting the team culture during their early days.

Paddy Upton Praises Dravid For His Guidance

Paddy Upton explained that Dravid’s calmness and the way he has created a dressing room culture has benefited the Indian youngsters a lot. He told that Dravid has always shown the youngsters the right way and he has prepared the right mindset in them while entering the international stages. He also told Dravid never shouts at the players if they fail and he has taken out the fear of failure from the youngsters.

“The culture around an athlete is the strongest influence on a player’s mind. That system and environment are constantly influencing their behavior and that is created as a result of how senior leaders manage and conduct themselves,” PTI quoted Paddy Upton as saying.

“So if you have a coach and captain who shouts and screams and gets disappointed when someone makes a mistake, I will show you a team that is filled with fear of failure. Conversely, for example, the U-19 players that are coming through Rahul Dravid, and we are really seeing the benefits of it in the cricket world,” Paddy Upton added.

Dravid Allowing The Youngsters To Express Themselves

Paddy Upton also told that Dravid has always welcomed the mistakes through which they can learn and rectify. He also told Dravid allowing the youngsters to express themselves helped India during the pressure situations in the Brisbane Test.

“For someone like (Dravid) who doesn’t get upset about mistakes, he is allowing mistakes and really freeing the mind of the players to express and perform and if they make mistakes, have a good conversation, so there is an equanimity and calmness. And that is what then conditions those players’ minds. We have seen in the last Test match (in Brisbane), these youngsters coming in a high-pressure situation, I think having come through Dravid is a significant part of their success,” Paddy Upton pointed out.

Rahul Dravid is the second-highest run-scorer for India and the fourth-highest run-scorer overall in tests