Published: Jan 20, 2016, 10:36 AM (IST)
Edited: Jan 20, 2016, 10:36 AM (IST)
The Under-19 World Cup is all set to commence from January 22 in Bangladesh and Rahul Dravid is certainly trying his best in getting the young guns ready for the big tournament. Dravid has been one of the greats to have played the gentlemen’s game and now he is passing on his pristine knowledge about cricket to the budding talents.
Dravid has been a great mentor, as one famously saw it in Rajasthan Royals (RR) side in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and now he is the coach of India Under-19 cricket team. As a part of their fitness regime, Dravid took the young talents for an overnight stay at Ramanagaram, the village where Bollywood blockbuster ‘Sholay’ was shot in the early 1970s. The film that released in 1975 is considered to be a classic and one of the greatest movies ever made in India. The team had camped recently in Bangalore from where this village is just few hours away.
Former Indian speedster and the current bowling coach Paras Mhambrey said that the idea was to build camaraderie between the players and team members.
Mhambrey was quoted in a report from MidDay saying, “It was Rahul’s initiative. The players are from different backgrounds and it is important to bring them together. Only then, they will perform as a team. They will be together for a very short time and it was important that they know each other well. The whole exercise was to develop team-bonding, team spirit and a good comfort level. The activity helped a lot in making the team come together.”
“We also played some team games. There was plenty of leg-pulling, but also a lot of encouragement if someone had a fear of heights. It helped the boys develop confidence in each other which is very crucial for a team’s success.”
The team members also tried their hands at rappelling, rock climbing and hiking a mountain. The team definitely had a great time and the primary goal was achieved as the pictures suggest. Dravid continues to shape the future of Indian cricket along with teaching them the true spirit of the game.
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