A professional
In 2016, the ninth edition of IPL Delhi under the captaincy of Rahul Dravid’s long time teammate Zaheer Khan lost the first match to Gujarat Lions at their home ground Feroz Shah Kotla. Delhi since then lost only another match to Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens. But, this season Rahul Dravid’s effect on the team already started to feel as Delhi now stand at the fourth position of the league point table with three consecutive wins and two loss. Dravid in Daredevils got his old student Sanju Samson who already has won a man of the match award, Rishav Pant, who played U 19 World Cup under his coaching, Carlos Brathwaite, who idolize him, long time teammate Zaheer Khan who shares a good bond with Dravid. Besides this couple of youngsters like Jayant Yadav. Karun Nair, Pawan Negi all are keen to learn from their fascination Dravid. These players grew up watching his batting so they keen to learn from him and perform to show their talent in front of India’s future coach.
Dravid himself was a shrewd captain so his presence in the dressing room boosted the confidence of players and he knows what is the right combination of the team. So he and Zaheer are in the mission to produce good cricket and elevate themselves in the point table. He always put his team ahead of his personal goal, even when his reputation is at stake. He appreciates his players and knows how to motivate reckless players.
Dravid’s experiment already lay out the path of Delhi’s success. He would like to keep his team to produce good cricket and increase their chance in this IPL. Delhi too got pinch hitters like Quinton de Kock, Brathwaite, and Chris Morris that provide Delhi edges to win matches.
In the last couple of seasons, Delhi got good squad but there was no good mentor who can manage players condition wise. This time, Dravid got full authority to use his expertise and his knack of spotting talents.