Kapil Dev's advice helped me to explore options before opting for India A coach's job: Rahul Dravid
New Delhi: Batting great Rahul Dravid says legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev's advice helped him to explore options after his retirement before eventually taking up the coaching job of India A and Under-19 sides.
Dravid said he was also "a little fortunate" that at the back end of his career, he was already in a captain-cum-coach role of IPL side Rajasthan Royals.
"After I finished (playing), there were quite a few options and I was not sure what to do. It was Kapil Dev who gave me this advice actually when I was coming to the end of my career," Dravid told India women's team coach WV Raman on his Youtube channel 'Inside Out'.
"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."
The former captain said initially he liked doing commentary, but later found "a little disconnect" from the game.
"The thing that gave me the most satisfaction was really being involved in the game and being connected with the boys. I really liked the coaching side of things and I got sort of involved in that when the opportunity came up to do some coaching with India A and Under-19," Dravid said.
"I thought it was a good place to start and took it up and I've really enjoyed it since. I just feel a lot more satisfying to be involved in the coaching side of things," said the legendary batsman, who piled up 13288 runs from 164 Tests between 1996 and 2012.
"Especially the developmental side of coaching, whether India A, Under-19 or the NCA. It's really given me the opportunity to work with a lot of the players without having to worry about the immediate results which I think is a really nice space for me to work in."
He backed the BCCI's decision to restrict U-19 players to one World Cup only.
"Instead of just 15-20 players, we were able to give 45 to 50 players exposure to the facilities at NCA, good coaches, good physios, good trainers, so it broadens the pool," said Dravid, who is Head of Cricket at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.
He said that India A players now felt secured as every one gets a chance to play.
Dravid also revealed that he doubted himself as an ODI player when he was dropped from the Indian team in 1998 mainly due to his strike rate.
"There have been phases in my international career (when I felt insecure). I was dropped from the ODI team in 1998. I had to fight my way back in, was away from the Indian team for a year," he said.
"There were certain insecurities than about whether I'm a good enough one-day player or not because I always wanted to be a Test player, was coached to be a Test player, hit the ball on the ground, don't hit the ball in the air, coaching like that. You sort of worry whether you had the skills to be able to do it (in an ODI)."
Dravid made a comeback to the ODI side ahead of the 1999 World Cup in England and ended up as the highest scorer (461) of the tournament though India failed to make it to the semi-finals.
The right-hander later played in the 2003 World Cup and also captained the side in the 2007 World Cup. He scored 10889 runs from 344 ODIs.
Talking about choosing cricket over academics, he said, "Growing up as a young cricketer in India is not easy. In the time that I grew up there was only Ranji Trophy and revenue was so poor. I had to forgo a CA or MBA to pursue cricket so there was insecurity."
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'Attempts to poison me in jail': Agustawestland 'middleman' Christian Michel James to court
New Delhi, Apr 3 (PTI): A Delhi court on Thursday sought a response from Tihar Jail authorities on a plea of Christian Michel James, an alleged middleman in the Agustawestland case, claiming attempts were made to poison him inside the prison.
Special judge Sanjeev Aggarwal sought a status report form the DG (prisons), Tihar Jail on the application filed by James over the "specific serious allegations".
The judge directed the official to file the report by April 16, 2025 detailing the action taken after James levelled the allegations.
The judge further directed the jail superintendent concerned to "positively" take James to the orthopedic department, AIIMS on April 7 after her complained of pain post his surgery on February 11, 2025.
James, a British national, was extradited on December 4, 2018 from Dubai, where he spent four months in custody.
Probe agencies had reported irregularities in the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from Italian manufacturing company AgustaWestland.
James, on March 7, offered to "finish his sentence" and leave India instead of walking out on bail owing to "security risks".
Following the reprieve in the CBI and ED cases against him, the special court imposed the necessary bail conditions for releasing him on bail.
While the Delhi High Court on March 4 granted him bail in the ED case and directed for saddling James with the necessary bail riders, the Supreme Court on February 18 granted the relief in the CBI case subject to the trial court's conditions.
A trial court judge on March 7 asked James, "How are you now? God has been kind to you in the last two months. You have got bail in both cases."
He said, "Delhi is just a larger prison. My family cannot come to me...My security is at risk. I would rather complete my sentence and leave the country."
The judge asked James how could he continue to be incarcerated when he was granted bail.
"I cannot accept the bail. It's unsafe. Every time I step out of Tihar (prison), something happens," he said.
On the aspect of furnishing a surety bond, he said, "How can a person who has been in jail for six years produce local sureties?"
After he stressed he did not want to be released on bail because of security reasons, the judge asked, "Can't you find a safehouse in Delhi?"
James then offered to "narrate in private the incident" he faced when he was admitted to AIIMS.
"The problem I have is with the police. I would rather talk to you in private," he said.
The judge then asked the media persons and the police personnel to wait outside for some time.
The court later passed its order, laying down the conditions for bail.
The conditions included James marking his attendance physically before the investigating officers once every 15 days, providing his cellphone number, email and residential address to the probe agencies aside from not leaving the country without the court's permission and not tampering with the evidence or attempting to influence the witnesses.
"The accused shall not interact with respect to the present case with the media nor shall communicate regarding this case at any forum, during the trial of this case, the order said.
The court directed James to furnish a personal bond and surety of Rs 10 lakh in both cases and surrender his passport.
James is among the three alleged middlemen being probed in the case and the other two are Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa.
The CBI, in its chargesheet, claimed an estimated loss of 398.21 million euros (about Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer due to the deal that was signed on February 8, 2010, for the supply of VVIP choppers worth 556.262 million euros.
The ED chargesheet filed against James in June 2016 alleged he received 30 million euros (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.
