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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RSS mouthpiece article on church properties shows their 'true mindset': Kerala CM
Thiruvananthapuram/Kozhikode (PTI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday said that a recent article in a RSS mouthpiece about the property owned in the country by the Catholic Church indicates the "true mindset" of the right-wing organisation and the alleged "majority communalism of the Sangh Parivar".
In a statement issued by his office, Vijayan said that though the article was removed from the website of the RSS mouthpiece, it gives some "negative signals".
The CM also alleged that it should be seen as part of "a grand plan to target the minority groups one by one and destroy them step by step".
A similar view was expressed by Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan who claimed that the article shows that the RSS has now set its eyes on the property of the church.
In his statement, the CM further claimed that it also shows the Sangh Parivar's "intense majority communalism which is against other religious communities".
Vijayan urged all progressive democratic secular movements to jointly resist such moves.
Satheesan, while speaking to reporters in Kozhikode, claimed that in the article the RSS has asked the central government to acquire the over seven crore hectares of land belonging to the Catholic Church.
He contended that according to the RSS, the church property was illegally leased during the British era.
Satheesan claimed that the RSS demand in the article came on the same day when the Waqf Bill was passed in the Parliament.
"We warned that if the Waqf Bill is passed, the Church Bill will follow," he added.
The opposition leader said that such actions indicate that while the Sangh Parivar was trying to appease Christians in Kerala, it was attacking them in the rest of the country.
He expressed hope that the Christians will recognise them as "wolves in sheep's clothing".
