“Would have been inauthentic to myself” - When Rahul Dravid spoke against being like Virat Kohli

Former Indian head coach Rahul Dravid has been involved with star batter Virat Kohli from the infant stages of the latter's career. Dravid was the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain in the inaugural IPL season in 2008, the year Kohli made his Team India debut.

The duo played white and red-ball games for India from 2008 to 2012 before Dravid's departure as a player in international cricket. More recently, they joined hands when Dravid coached India for over two years, culminating with the side winning the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Yet, Dravid wasn't always a big fan of Kohli's aggressive and in-your-face attitude, even if he understood the reasons behind it. During an event in 2017, Dravid talked about why he refrained from being like Kohli on the field.

"I think the game is still about performance. So let's not take that away from someone like Kohli. That's his personality. People have asked me, 'Why didn't you behave like that?' But that's not what got the best out of me. I would have been inauthentic to myself if I had tried to put tattoos and behave like Virat," he said [via ESPN Cricinfo].

Dravid added:

"What worries me a little bit is a lot of that gets translated into junior cricket. That's the scary thing for me, not so much what Virat does. Kids at 12, 13, 14 want to become the next Virat Kohli, not realizing that maybe that's not authentic to who they are."

Kohli and Dravid are two of India's greatest batters of all time with over 51,000 runs and 129 centuries between them. While the former is second among runs by an Indian batter across formats, Dravid is right behind him at third.

Rahul Dravid celebrates his 52nd birthday today

Dravid signed off as Indian head coach with joy in the 2024 T20 World Cup [Credit: Getty]

Rahul Dravid turned 52 today (January 11) and the former India batter and head coach received warm wishes from fans on social media. Dravid has been one of the icons of Indian cricket as a player and coach while also being hugely respected in world cricket.

The 52-year-old is India's third all-time leading run scorer overall and second in Tests. Dravid's 48 international centuries are joint-third most among Indian batters behind only Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar.

After a stellar playing career, Dravid coached the Indian Under-19 team to the title in the 2018 U-19 World Cup. He then took over as Indian coach at the end of the 2021 season and helped the side finish runners-up in the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) and ODI World Cup.

Dravid's incredible three-year stint as India's head coach came to a fitting end with the side lifting the 2024 T20 World Cup trophy.