Rahul Dravid’s equanimity and his commitment to calm toughness and perseverance have left cricket lovers awestruck. Still, a shy smile creeps up his face when he said that just a set of skills and passionate perseverance, and a relentless drive towards excellence helps him prosper on the cricket field and off it.
Having been dropped from the one-day team in 1998 forced India batting legend Rahul Dravid to return to the drawing board and plug the gaps to make himself a better white-ball cricketer. Rahul Dravid went on to score over 10,000 runs during his ODI career including 12 centuries and 83 fifties.
Rahul Dravid Opens Up On Excellence Which He Feels Is The Constant Effort To Get The Best Out Of Oneself
Rahul Dravid played 344 ODIs between 1996 and 2011 and the reason behind that was his tendency to learn from his mistakes and make it a point to never repeat them.
“To me, excellence is the constant effort to get the best out of myself. To begin with, one has to recognize the skills one possesses for the chosen pursuit and then figure out if a huge reserve of passion accompanies it. For me, I was fortunate to have a skill set suited for the game of cricket. I had tremendous passion, even as a child, to pursue the game.”
“Excellence is a continuous journey. You have to keep evaluating your progress and improving. You need not compare yourself with others all the time, but review yourself against your chosen goals. Hence, set your goals in clear and unambiguous language.
“Excellence is also about being introspective. You need to look deep within – without wearing blinders or coloured glasses. You have to be brutal about where you are lacking and need to improve.”
Rahul Dravid had his own share of records and match-winning moments for India, the Karnataka batter accumulated 24,208 runs across all formats on an international stage.
Rahul Dravid Opens Up On Getting Dropped from ODIs Forcing Him To Introspect, Recalibrate And Relearn
Rahul Dravid, who led the Indian team for two years, mentioned that getting dropped from the ODI team in 1998 helped him to work on himself and bounced back against the odds.
“There were many high and low points in the journey, but what mattered to me most was that, at the end of it, I could walk out of the stadium with my head held high and without any regrets. Everyone needs to create a process and plan that keeps him or her on the path to excellence.”
“I’d say it’s the constant perseverance towards seeing challenges as opportunities and the passion to improve. The pursuit of excellence is not a part-time or some-time investment, it is an all-the-time thing. Commitment, discipline and drive are needed in good measure. And, of course, a deep love and passion for what you do.”
“Yes, getting dropped from the one-day team in 1998 forced me to introspect, recalibrate and relearn. I was out of the one-day team for a year, during which I spent a massive amount of time developing new skills and adapting my game for the one-day arena.
“It took a lot, beginning with a deeper awareness of the finer aspects of what I lacked and, subsequently, the hard work to improve. I was able to play ten years of one-day cricket after that and score over 10,000 runs in over 300 one-day matches.”
After playing 164 Tests, 344 One-Day Internationals and a solitary T20I match for India, Rahul Dravid announced his international retirement in 2012 after India’s tour of Australia 2011-12. Rahul Dravid has played a massive role in strengthening the roots of Indian cricket at the U19 level. Under him as the head coach, the Prithvi Shaw-led side won the 2018 U19 World Cup in New Zealand.
“All of those little things that come together to shape you. For a sportsperson, it could be the practice, the introspection, the attitude and the diet, to name some. And how one can be honest about these things even when no one is watching.
“It is in the sacrifices that you make during your pursuit, even in small things such as how much sleep you are getting. I have found that honesty is so important, that is, the kind of honesty one needs with oneself. So, be honest with your own self!”
Rahul Dravid is also credited for grooming young talent that has helped the Indian team to have one of the strongest bench strengths in the world. He took over the senior team’s head coach role from Ravi Shastri after the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in November last year.