Rahul Dravid is one of the nicest guys to have played the game of cricket. His personality outside of cricket is as elegant as his square-cuts or flicks were. He is an ideal man to be followed not only on cricket field but generally in life too. He was revered as much by his opponents as by his own teammates. He was the personification of hard work, determination and patience. So when a man of such stature shares his experience, it’s worth listening to. For example, while describing his famous Adelaide innings he said “You can’t concentrate for 10 hours. You switch on and off, you push yourself, your mind wanders, you bring it back, you steel yourself. That’s the real beauty when you win the battle against yourself.” Aren’t people in all spheres of life fighting the same battle and only those are successful who win that battle? Another time while addressing young graduates of BITS Pilani, Goa, he asked them to have faith in God – ‘God’s delays are not God’s denials’ – and also gave example of Chinese Bamboo describing how hard work always pays off sooner or later.

In a recent online interview, a growing trend of Covid-times, for the show Inside Out hosted by former Indian cricketer and the current coach of Indian National Women Cricket Team, W V Raman, Rahul Dravid shared his two cents on cricket and his life. Here are a few takeaways from that interview:

Meaning of Success

Success is being the best you can be. It’s not about statistics but giving your best shot. You can’t compare yourselves with other people. At the end of the day it’s your journey, just be the best you can be. Being happy with what you have done and achieved is success.

Qualities to excel

• Perseverance: Recognize the pain and difficulty in the learning process and persevere through ups and downs.
• Inquisitiveness: Desire to constantly learn and improve your skills.
• Balance: Take both success and failure with equanimity.

Power of Concentration

It’s something that must be developed and worked on. One must learn how to be present in the moment and play one ball at a time. The best way to learn how to concentrate, be able to bat for a long time, is to be able to do it when you have the opportunity to do it in the middle. One must not get satisfied with milestones rather take it as an opportunity to hone one’s ability to play longer innings. Also one must learn the ability to switch on and switch off in between balls and also on and off the field. Worrying about the game off the field will only drain your energy unnecessarily and leave you tired on the field where you actually need that energy. He further said that the habit of reading books helped him switch off from cricket. For others it could be movies, music or spending time with friends.

Life after retirement

Kapil Dev advised him not to commit to anything post retirement. He asked him to go out and explore different things and see for himself what he really likes. Towards the back-end of his career being captain-cum-coach of Rajasthan Royals helped him with the management stuff. Post retirement he tried his hands in the field of media
and other endorsements but coaching gave him the most satisfaction. It was evident by the impressive performance of India U-19 team and A teams under his mentor-ship.

Change in approach at junior level cricket

Dravid believed that the ultimate aim for every cricketer at junior level is to make it to the national team. Hence one must concentrate on the long term goals rather than immediate results. Irrespective of results, everyone in the squad must get an opportunity to play. This helped widening the pool of players available for selection for national team and also provided enough opportunities to players who did well at domestic level. Dravid praised the selectors for the support he received from them in this regard.

How Dravid managed insecurity

There was a lot of competition in his time and absence of platforms such as IPL meant Ranji Trophy was the only stage to impress the selectors. Being dropped in 1998 from the one-day team made him doubt himself if he was a good enough one-day player but he focused on what he could control rather than worrying about things like selection that are not in his hands. He kept putting in a lot of effort and working hard with positive mindset. He accepted that being anxious or nervous is a part and parcel of the game but one must not let it hamper their confidence. Meditation helped him calm his nerves off the field. Dravid was the highest run scorer of the 1999 World Cup.

Towards the end of the interview, Dravid reminded the viewers of their social responsibility and asked them to always wear mask in public and observe social distancing as major measures to contain the pandemic. The full interview can be viewed on YouTube.