One of the finest batters to have graced Indian cricket, Rahul Dravid turned 50 years old on January 11, 2023. As wishes poured in from different corners of the Indian cricketing spectrum, former India batter Hemang Badani revealed an unheard story involving the current India head coach. While cricket lovers have seen Dravid decimating the opponent team’s bowlers with his rock-solid defence, not many know of his heroics in the Chennai league, where the batter would go and just bat for hours.
“He lived in Bangalore and this cricket was happening in Chennai. And he used to come over to Chennai to play the Chennai league, which is one of the most prolific leagues in India. He would come in and churn 100s after 100s. Every game. And I was somebody who was skilled but I would loft the ball and everything. Go out there and get out. Lofting and getting out long off and stuff,” Badani said in a video shared by IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Further in the video, Badani revealed how Dravid would not budge from his style of play even after getting a century.
“Rahul would only keep the ball on the floor. At one point I said, Rahul you have got one 100, you got two, you got four, you’ve got 5. What the hell is happening Rahul? Aren’t you bored? Don’t you like to try something else here?,” Badani narrated the incident of a funny conversation with Dravid.
A story overheard in our dressing room that will make you birthday boy #RahulDravid a bit more! #OrangeArmy pic.twitter.com/5IBM8BIPeo
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) January 11, 2023
Revealing Dravid’s answer to the question, Badani said that the iconic batter would come out to play with a clear mindset, which is to bat for 5 hours, as he had travelled for 6-6.5 hours.
“He said Hemang, it’s quite simple for me. I take a night train. In those days there were no aircrafts and they were very expensive. I take the night train. I travel for 6-6.5 hours. I am not gonna travel that much and go back 6.5 hours to bat for 3 hours. I am going to bat 5 hours to get a hundred. And it’s as simple as that for me. If I am travelling so much and playing the game, I better make sure that I am in there for 5 hours,” Badani further revealed.
“He said one more thing, which was that in the nets, you bat for 20-odd minutes. What do you do after that as a batter? I’ll bat another minute, I’ll bat for another 5 balls. You got another 10 balls. Coach, can I bat for another 5 balls, mate can you bowl another 10 balls to me. He said if I get 100, I ma batting 150 balls or 170 balls. Why should I not play. Otherwise, I am begging to bowlers in the nets. He would never get out,” he concluded.
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