Rahul Dravid Recalls Advice From Kapil Dev Before Becoming Coach

Kapil Dev admitted that he does not likes giving advises to youngsters until they ask for any. But for a fellow legend of the game like Rahul Dravid, the 1983 World Cup winning captain, had his words of advice after he retired from cricket. Kapil Dev had asked Rahul Dravid to explore areas to find out what he likes before becoming coach.

Dravid ended his career on a high. His achievements speak for himself. It is no mean feat to score runs in both the formats and be at remain at the top of one’s game. Dravid scored 13288 runs in the longest format of the game in 164 matches while he played 344 ODIs to score 10899.

After retiring, Dravid recalls bumping to Kapil Dev, where he advised him not to commit to anything straight away and spend a few years to explore what he really likes. Dravid took the advise and spent his time taking up various roles from the commentary box to eventually becoming a coach of the India A and U-19 teams.

“After I finished [playing career] there were quite a few options and I wasn’t necessarily sure what to do. It was Kapil Dev who gave me this advice actually when I was in coming to the end of my career. I bumped into him somewhere and he said: ‘Rahul don’t commit to doing anything straightaway, go out and spend a few years just exploring and doing different things and see what you really like’.

I thought it was good advice so I was also a little fortunate that at the back end of my career I was already in a sort of captain’s-coach kind of role with Rajasthan Royals,” Dravid told former India cricketer and current women’s team coach WV Raman.

As a coach, Dravid guided the India U-19 team to become the runners-up in 2006 U-19 World Cup. He also mentored the U-19 side to the World Cup triumph in 2018.

Eventually, he was appointed as the head of National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru but continues to monitor the growth and development of India U-19 and India A sides.