Rahul Dravid questions his additional cash reward after Under-19 victory

Rahul Dravid with the India U-19 support staff: trainer Anand Date (fourth from right), physioYogesh Parmar (fifth from right) and bowling coach Paras Mhambrey (centre, back)

What's the story?

Former India captain and the current coach of the India Under-19 side, Rahul Dravid has asked for equality in payment of cash rewards for the entire support staff and the players who took the team to glory by lifting the just-concluded Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand. In fact, after India had beaten Australia in the final and before the BCCI announced rewards for the players and the staff for lifting the trophy, Dravid, in a short post match interaction had said, “It’s a bit embarrassing at times because I tend to get a lot of attention and focus, but it is really about the support staff and the quality of people that we’ve had. I don’t want to mention names but everyone in the support staff has put in a great effort. We do the best for the kids.”

In case you didn't know..

After the Prithvi Shaw-led side took India to their fourth Under-19 title, the BCCI had announced cash rewards of INR 50 lakh for Dravid, INR 20 lakh for each of the other support staff members and INR 30 lakh for the victorious Indian squad. The members of the support staff included bowling coach Paras Mhambrey, fielding coach Abhay Sharma, physiotherapist Yogesh Parmar, trainer Anand Date, masseur Mangesh Gaikwad and video analyst Devraj Raut.

The heart of the matter

It is believed that the 45-year-old Dravid had requested the BCCI that the cash rewards of all the members be equal rather than him gaining much more than others. His argument was to ensure that there was no discrimination against his team members who had put in an equal amount of time and effort in ensuring that India do their best at the youth World Cup.

Author's Take

The humble and soft-spoken nature of Dravid has come to the fore yet again with this generous move. Also, while the World Cup was on, India's coach went over to the Pakistan dressing room after the latter were bowled out for mere 69 in the semi-final clash against their arch rivals so as to boost the opposition's confidence. “It was a very nice gesture only confirming Dravid’s stature in our eyes,” Pakistan's coach Nadeem Khan said.