Rahul Dravid reveals why Indian cricket is 'extremely strong and powerful'

Legendary Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid has revealed the reason why Indian cricket is so strong and powerful. Dravid also remembered his early cricketing days in which he used to get two eggs and one glass of milk after practice.

It is well known that cricket is like a religion in India. The game has its presence in almost every corner of the country. The cricketers are worshipped and have an immense following. As a result, India have been able to produce some of the best cricketers in the world and Rahul Dravid was one of them.

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Rahul Dravid reveals why Indian cricket is "extremely strong and powerful"

Rahul Dravid was speaking during the 50th anniversary of Mount Joy Cricket Club. He revealed that the game has such strong roots in the country because the talent comes from everywhere and not just the major cities.

"If you look at Indian cricket today, Indian cricket is extremely strong, it's extremely powerful. One of the big reasons for that is that talent comes from everywhere, from all over the country," Dravid said.

Earlier, it was hard for players from smaller cities to play cricket because of the lack of facilities. While some of the players used to relocate to big cities, many of them could not afford to do so.

In contrast, nowadays, the facilities are available in many smaller cities as well which is helping the sport grow and produce more world-class cricketers. Over the years, we have seen many small-town cricketers making their way into the national side.

Rahul Dravid on Ranji Trophy's standards

Dravid also spoke about the level of Ranji Trophy nowadays. He reckons that the competition has grown in the sport which is giving the country more world-class cricketers. He also cited the example of South Zone where all the states Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Hyderabad produce highly skilled cricketers

"You just look at the standard of the Ranji Trophy... there is no team in the South Zone today that you can walk in and say that you will comfortably beat." According to Dravid, is a testament to the growing competitiveness and equal distribution of talent.

Rahul Dravid gets nostalgic

During the discussion, Rahul Dravid also remembered his early days of cricketing career at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. He revealed that listening to former cricketers would be something that he loved to do.

"After the practice, HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) would give us two eggs and one small glass of milk. I would always stay back for that glass of milk and those eggs. Not because I wanted the milk and eggs. But because I wanted to sit and listen to the likes of BK Kumar or Nandan talking about cricket. And it used to be great fun to listen to them and learn so much from them," Dravid revealed.

Rahul Dravid was India's head coach in the T20 World Cup 2024 when the India National Cricket Team lifted the title by defeating the South Africa National Cricket Team in the final by 7 runs. It was one of the iconic moments for Rahul Dravid, who lifted his first ICC trophy in his entire career, both as a player and as a coach.

Dravid's reaction after lifting the trophy is still etched in the memories of Indian cricket fans and the video went viral on social media. Last year, Dravid came close to lifting the trophy when India reached the final of ODI World Cup 2023 final but unfortunately lost the summit clash to Australia.