Rahul Dravid had a much bigger impact than probably anyone in Indian cricket: Gautam Gambhir

There’s one thing about Gautam Gambhir which needs to be admired is the way he gives respect to senior cricketers. In a recent interaction, he was at it again. Gambhir who made his Test debut under the captaincy of Rahul Dravid praised the legendary skipper for his excellence and his ability to lead the Indian team.

Dravid was the captain of the Indian team from 2005 when Sourav Ganguly was abruptly dropped from the Indian team. Dravid led the Indian team in the 2007 World Cup, where his team was knocked out in the group stages.

However, the Karnataka batsman held the position after the tournament. It was only after MS Dhoni’s led a young Indian team to the ICC T20 World Cup victory, that Dravid gave up his captaincy. 

“I made my ODI debut under Sourav Ganguly, I made my Test debut under Rahul Dravid. It is so unfortunate that we do not give enough credit for his captaincy as well. We only talk about Sourav Ganguly or MS Dhoni and now about Virat Kohli. But Rahul Dravid has been a fabulous captain for India,” Gambhir said during Star Sports show, ‘Cricket Connected’ in which he appeared with VVS Laxman. 

Dravid is probably the most underrated cricketer: Gautam Gambhir

Gambhir recounted the achievements Indian team had when Dravid was the captain. It should be noted that India won a Test series in West Indies (in 2006) and in England (in 2007) under the captaincy of Dravid. Even India’s form as an ODI team was quite good under his captaincy. Gambhir also pointed out at the versatility of Dravid and how it had benefitted the Indian team. 

“Even his records, he is probably the most underrated cricketer and probably the most underrated leader as well. We won in England, we won in West Indies and we won 14 or 15 games on the trot. But look at Rahul Dravid as a cricketer.

You asked him to open the batting in Test cricket and he did that. He kept wickets for India, he batted as a finisher. He did everything Indian cricket or a captain asked him to do and that is the kind of role models you want,” Gambhir added. 

Comparing Dravid with his good friend and BCCI President, Sourav Ganguly, Gambhir said that Dravid has had a great impact on Indian cricket. He did add that Ganguly’s white-ball impact was much more but overall it was Dravid who had an impact like Sachin Tendulkar. 

“For me, I think he has had a bigger impact. Sourav Ganguly has always had a bigger impact in white-ball cricket because of his flamboyance but Rahul Dravid overall in Indian cricket had a much bigger impact than probably anyone. You can actually match his impact on someone like Sachin Tendulkar as well. He played under the shadow of Sachin Tendulkar all his life, but impact wise probably the same,” Gambhir said. 

The former Indian batsman further added that the Karnataka player has done really good things as the coach of the India A and India U19 teams. He said he would have loved to have someone like him when he was in the India A team.