Rahul Dravid: 5 Indian players who were helped by his advice

Rahul Dravid is currently coaching the Indian U-19 team in the U-19 World Cup. While this is his most visible and prominent foray into mentoring young cricketers, Dravid has helped more than his fair share of cricketers along his career. His presence, advice and encouragement have been invaluable for many players to make a name for themselves. Rahul Dravid is one of the most unselfish cricketers of all time. His demeanour, poise, empathy and grace enabled him to be a unique mentor to players who were playing with him or with whom he came into contact with. Also read: Best innings of Rahul Dravid in ODI cricketDravid was not motivated by individual glory. All he cared about was the team and the country. Even when he was a part of the Indian team, he was focused on making the players around him better and helping the youngsters navigate their way forward.Here is a look at 5 players who earned success thanks to Rahul Dravid.

#1 Ajinkya Rahane

Dravid with Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane has many reasons to be thankful to Rahul Dravid. They both played for the Rajasthan Royals, and Rahane had ample opportunities to learn from Dravid.

He credits Rahul Dravid with helping him focus and get better, saying “Rahulpaaji has helped me realise that I should only look to control things I can control. That I should maintain the work ethic I follow and, most important, never lose self-belief.”

He added “Opening the batting with Rahul bhai gave me a chance to express myself and showcase all that I had learnt over the years,”

When Rahane took 8 catches in a Test against Sri Lanka, he made it a point to thank Rahul Dravid. He said, "We had a very good talk during IPL on what he used to do when he used to stand in the slips.”

Rahul Dravid has complimented Ajinkya Rahane, saying "He is a good No.5. He is a different generation cricketer. He does play a lot more shots than me. He scores at a quicker rate than I did.

Rahane and Dravid have more in common. They both reached the 2,000 run-mark in One-Day International (ODI) format in their 63rd match.

#2 Cheteshwar Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara was playing for the India A team when he got some invaluable advice from Rahul Dravid. It does wonders to one’s confidence when someone like Dravid helps you validate your technique. Pujara speaks glowlingly of how Dravid helped him gain confidence.

"The best thing came out of Rahul Dravid when I was playing with the India A team. He said that there is nothing wrong with my technique. So he told me to keep calm. He watched me bat in the nets and told me that there is a big one coming very soon, maybe in Sri Lanka or even in the India A game. So that gave me a lot of confidence and belief in myself,"

Dravid also complimented Pujara, saying "He's still got the technique, he's got the game, the temperament. To me, once he gets set, his strike rate is as good as anybody I know. He's terrific at rotating the strike against the spinners and dominating them, in his own way.”

#3 Virender Sehwag

Sehwag credited Dravid for his career rebirth

Rahul Dravid had made a name for himself with his consistency. He was the steady presence in the lineup which could always be depended upon. His steady presence was one of the major keys which helped Sehwag prosper.

Dravid was also instrumental in getting Sehwag back in the Indian team. Sehwag has said, “I was dropped before the 2007 World Cup and he (Dravid) insisted that I be reinstated for the championship. I scored a century and a half-century in the tournament. Since then my career graph has gone up. I’m immensely grateful to him.

Sehwag credited Dravid’s presence behind him as well, saying “The biggest benefit as an opening batsman was that there were big and great players like Rahul Dravid to bat after me. Even if there was a pressure situation, they could have handled well. But If I was playing now, I would not have been able to bat with so much freedom.”

“That is one of the reasons that my batting style became fearless. I knew that the great players in the middle order were capable to handle pressure and help the team score runs," he added.

#4 Amit Mishra

Amit Mishra

Amit Mishra has a couple of Man-of-the-match awards against Zimbabwe to his name. He has also bowled for India-A. During the time he had the good fortune of having one of the most formidable batsmen around to help him improve his bowling. He credited Rahul Dravid with being hands-on and helping him improve his action.

Amit Mishra has said, “Look, he has 20 years of experience. From a batsman's perspective, he can give me tips as to what I should bowl or not bowl in these conditions. Also he can plan for a team like Australia,"

#5 Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin also has Rahul Dravid to thank for helping him become a better bowler. Ashwin's childhood coach, Sunil Subramaniam has credited Rahul Dravid with helping Ashwin evolve his bowling.

“It was before the England tour that I advised him to get back to being the off-spinner he was during his first four years of first-class cricket for Tamil Nadu, which was to pitch the ball on a fuller length outside the off stump to right-handers and let the tremendous revolutions that he imparts, both over and side spin, do its job.” said Sunil.

“It was around the same time that Rahul Dravid, who assisted the Indian team as a mentor on the tour of England, advised him the same, as did Muttiah Muralitharan on the virtues of spot bowling.” he added.

Dravid has also complimented Ashwin in 2015, saying “Ashwin bowled beautifully. He’s growing as a bowler, and is ready to lead the Indian attack."