It would be safe to say that RP Singh would have been embarrassed to interview Rahul Dravid. And safer to assume that the modest to the fault Dravid would have done his best to make RP comfortable.
Circumstance had put the one-time team mates in a situation which bordered on being a farce. RP was part of the two-member Cricket Advisory Committee, women’s international Sulakshana Naik being the other, that was to pick India’s head coach. There was one more layer of absurdity – Dravid was the only applicant. The world knew Dravid’s stature in Indian cricket, no one dared to apply, or judge him.
Does RP’s Career Has That Much Ability To Interview A Player Like Dravid?
Surely not RP. When he was a 21-year-old rookie from Rae Bareli playing his first Test against Pakistan in 2006, Dravid was the Indian captain. Next year, under the same leadership, he had his best Test outing. RP’s mind-bending inswinger to KP on that England tour will remain in the collective memory of Indian cricket fans. His worst too came when Dravid was still around, though not as a captain.
In 2011, skipper MS Dhoni would call the out-of-shape and rusty RP from vacation to open India’s attack at Lord’s. Friendly pace, amateurish indiscipline and a first ball that bounced twice before reaching the wicket-keeper. On that sun-drenched morning at the home of cricket, the Indian fans were seen hiding their newspapers. Tongues would wag about the pacer’s proximity to the skipper, RP was one of the few who attended Dhoni’s wedding. RP’s Test career lasted 5 years where he played 14 Tests, Dravid’s played 164 Tests in 16 years. That Lord’s Test was his last. He was 26 then. In the series where RP was the poster boy of India’s abject surrender, Dravid, at 38, played the boy on the burning deck.
During that English August who would have imagined that one day Dravid will be making a powerpoint presentation about his cricketing credentials and RP would sit in judgement a decade later. Weird isn’t it?
Source : The Quint
