Kolkata: The Indians have been pretty successful across all formats for quite some time now and one of the reasons for this continued success has been the ‘aggressive’ spirit, that the Indian captain Virat Kohli has injected into the team. Just recently, Kohli registered his seventh successive series victory after India trounced New Zealand 2-1 in a three-match ODI series.
Kohli’s, ‘never-say-die’ attitude might have given this Indian team a ruthless persona but former skipper Rahul Dravid fears that this, ‘aggresion’ might end up misleading youngsters into not being authentic to themselves.
The former Indian middle-order batsman also said that he cringes after reading Kohli’s, “outrageous” comments sometimes, but batted for the Delhi lad, saying that it shouldn’t matter as long as he is true to himself and it helps take out the best in him.
Dravid, at the Bangalore Literature Festival on Sunday, said, “I think the game is still about performance. So let’s not take that way from someone like Kohli.”
“That’s his personality. People have asked me, ‘Why didn’t you behave like that?’ But that’s not what got the best out of me. I would have been inauthentic to myself if I had tried to put tattoos and behave like Virat,” he also said.
He further added, “Sometimes, especially before an Australia series, you’ll find Virat saying the most outrageous things. And I read the paper and cringe at times. But then I think back, maybe he actually wants that contest. He wants that lip on the field because that gets the best out of him. Now that might not be everyone’s cup of tea. But at the end of the day, he’s got to do what gets the best out of him. Ajinkya Rahane is very different and he gets the best out of himself by doing different things. I think being authentic to yourself is very, very important.”
Dravid also backed the Indian skipper saying that the latter’s level of performance ‘is second to none’ in the world today.
“If engaging in a contest, sometimes needling the opposition, is getting the best out of Virat – and it certainly is because his level of performance is second to none in the world today – then so be it. You can’t blame him for it.”
But Dravid admitted that he is worried at the fact that this might end up leading the youngsters to be like Kohli and hence not being who they truly are.
He said, “What worries me a little bit is a lot of that gets translated into junior cricket. That’s the scary thing for me, not so much what Virat does. Kids at 12, 13, 14 want to become the next Virat Kohli, not realising that maybe that’s not authentic to who they are.”
But the 44-year-old was pleased with the fact that cricketers these days are far more confident and that there is a financial security, which has empowered the players even at a lower level.
“I think there’s a certain confidence and belief in Indian cricket today which has come about through results.”
He also added, “It’s definitely more evident today than from the time I started. I remember I was sitting on a flight and I was really excited going on one of my early tours and said, ‘It’ll be great if we can win the series.’ And what I got was, ‘We’ll be lucky if we can win one Test match. Let’s hope we can win one and draw the rest’. People expect India now to win. Certainly, there is a level of fitness, confidence and belief that probably didn’t exist when I was starting out.”
He also said, “When I look at a lot of the India A guys or Under-19 guys that I coach, I can see the fearlessness and confidence. It also comes with a certain level of financial security. For me, as a 21-22-year old, I knew that the B.Com degree I barely managed to get in college wasn’t going to suffice, and I needed to make cricket work. There was a pressure to make cricket work and make it possible for me to lead a good life. Today’s cricketers know that even if they don’t play for India, they can still make a very good living for themselves. I’m very happy about that.”
The Indian U-19 coach however had a piece of advice to the youngsters-to not have any agent till they reach a certain level in the game.
Dravid explained,” One of the things I like to tell young cricketers is that you don’t really need an agent. Okay, a Virat Kohli or a Mahendra Singh Dhoni today needs an agent because if they have to focus on their cricket and play at that high level, they need to ensure that somebody else is looking after their finances.
“They don’t want to be chasing their dates, or chasing people for money that is owed. But at the younger age of 17, 18 and 19, having agents is definitely not necessary. I don’t see any big hoarding of a 17 or 18-year old. The only hoardings you see today are Kohli or Dhoni or one or two other Indian players. So it’s only when you reach that standard of cricket do you need agents to support and help you.”
1 comment
Good news