Former India cricketer and now Head coach Rahul Dravid is synonymous with patience on the field. He was unperturbed by all the flamboyance and chatter around him. The right-handed batter was regarded as one of the most technically sound players to have ever played the game. In a recent interview, he revealed the reason behind his focus and calmness on the field.
Speaking to Abhinav Bindra on his podcast ‘In the Zone’, Rahul Dravid expressed that channelizing his energy was the biggest turnaround for him in his career. He added that he used to spend a lot of energy worrying about his game, which did not help his game. That is when he decided to find a new approach. Dravid said as quoted by the Hindustan Times,
“If I look back at my career, that (channelizing the energy) was a game-changer. I was really able to channel my mental energy. I used to spend a lot of energy even when I was not playing thinking about my game, worrying about it, and reflecting on it. In time I learned that was not necessarily helping my batting. I needed to refresh and almost find a life outside of cricket.”
Rahul ‘David’ recounts a crucial lesson he learnt after scoring his 1st century in school cricket. Tune in to my podcast ‘In the Zone’ to dissect the mind of THE gentleman from the gentleman’s game.@under25universe https://t.co/A9iUknxEMu #InTheZoneWithAB #Under25Original pic.twitter.com/v2CAvNAPRB
— Abhinav A. Bindra OLY (@Abhinav_Bindra) July 25, 2022
I started recognizing red flags and realized when I was getting too intense: Rahul Dravid
Many cricketers have time and again stressed on the importance of switching off from the game, once off the field. Former India cricketer Rahul Dravid also spoke about it on Abhinav Bindra’s podcast. He expressed that, unlike Virender Sehwag, who found it easier to switch off, Rahul started to recognize the red flags in his career. The former cricketer said,
“Honestly, I was never going to be like Viru (Virender Sehwag). He found it much easier to switch off because of his personality. I was never going to get to that level. But I started recognizing the red flags, I realized when I was getting too intense. I knew I needed to find a way to switch it off but it was the mental side of the thing that you need to help yourself.”
“It came down to you recognizing that this was as important to you as those extra hours in the gym and practice sessions. If you did all of that but were unable to switch off mentally, you are not gonna have enough energy to play the game. Once I start recognizing that three or four years in my career, I started to make an effort to switch off a lot more and it helped me a lot,” added Rahul Dravid.
The legendary cricketer is in Trinidad with the Indian team for a limited-overs tour. India has an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the three-match ODI series so far. The third and final ODI will take place on Wednesday, July 27 at the Queen’s Park Oval.
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