The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Dravid's humility to the fore

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Thursday, Oct 12, 2006
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Dravid's humility to the fore

Special Correspondent

JAIPUR: Rahul Dravid's humility when encountering former cricketers was evident during the lunch break of the practice match against a bunch of Rajasthan first class players.

Kailash Gattani, former Rajasthan and Central Zone seamer, known to have troubled some of the best batsmen in the land in his heyday, happened to join the Indian cricketers at lunch when Dravid sought him out.

Gattani was known for organising an annual summer tour of England, where he would invite talented cricketers to join the team. Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli were among his early students, not to forget Dravid.

The Star Cricket Club tour was considered an ideal "cricket education" for all budding youngsters. "I was only interested in providing the youngsters a platform to test themselves in demanding conditions. A tour of England can be the best cricket education, but I am not sure if I always gave them what they wanted," said the humble Gattani, who was rated highly by Sunil Gavaskar for his canny seam bowling.

All praise for Dravid

Gattani was all praise for Dravid's down to earth behaviour. During the match against Sri Lanka here last year, Gattani had sent a word to Dravid, who lost little time in rushing out to meet his one time guide. Dravid invited him to the Indian dressing room to meet the team.

"That was nice of Dravid. Such gestures are rare these days," remembered Gattani, who is presently a national junior selector.

The lunch over, Dravid promised to meet Gattani again and returned to the field where the Indians were involve in an interesting practice match.

The emphasis in this match was on playing shots on the ground. The bowlers were pitted against the batsmen and it was serious stuff out there. Suresh Raina was given a torrid time by Rudra Pratap Singh, who let the ball fly a few times in an expensive spell. But Raina warmed up to crack a half-century.

Pathan vs. Sehwag

Irfan Pathan ran into a rampaging Virender Sehwag, who retired after slamming a century against an attack comprising Ajit Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh and Ramesh Powar. Mahendra Singh Dhoni entertained the crowd with a 98 on his second visit to the crease after failing in the first session. Dravid helped himself to a neat 40 before Powar lured him into a tame catch to Harbhajan at square leg.

The match was played at the Neerja Modi School Complex on a lovely cricket field with the pitch decent enough to give the cricketers a satisfying day out. The lone sore factor was the warm weather.

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