At a press conference following the second T20I against Sri Lanka in Pune on Thursday, Team India head coach Rahul Dravid had a fun conversation in Marathi with a journalist (January 5).
In response to the Marathi query, Dravid began speaking in the same language but asked the scribe if he could respond in English. The journalist politely urged the Indian legend to continue speaking in Marathi, after which Dravid joked about his language skills.
Despite being born in Indore and raised in Bengaluru, Dravid is descended from a Marathi-speaking Brahmin family. Returning to the press conference, the head coach was quizzed on the high-scoring game in Pune. He began speaking in Marathi but then abruptly added:
“Mi English madhe sangto. Samajnar nahi lokanna. Majhi Marathi mahit nahi, pan theek aahe (I will speak in English. People won’t understand my Marathi. I don’t know how good I am at it but okay).”
Dravid continued speaking in Marathi at the request of the journalist. The question concerned the number of big hits in the game in Pune.
“Hopefully, we can play well and get the right result.” – Rahul Dravid
Dravid elaborated: “A lot of sixes are hit on this ground. They (Sri Lanka) hit 14 sixes; we hit 12. Because so many sixes can be hit on this ground, you are never really out of the game. You can always come back because you can have those big overs here. Axar (Patel) was able to get us that big over against (Wanindu) Hasaranga.”
After losing the toss, Sri Lanka batted first and posted an impressive 206-6, thanks to thrilling knocks from captain Dasun Shanaka (56* off 22) and opener Kusal Mendis (52 off 31). In response, India collapsed to 57-5 before Axar (65) and Suryakumar Yadav (51) provided much-needed momentum to the innings.
With the three-match series tied at 1-1, both teams will have everything to play for in the decider. When asked about the do-or-die game, Dravid said that such high-pressure matches would benefit a young Indian team. He came to the conclusion:
“Irrespective of whether we win or lose, such high-pressure, must-win games can only be good for a young side like us. Hopefully, we can play well and get the right result.”
Get the latest cricket news here, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram for more such updates.
