Rahul Dravid reveals how Kapil Dev guided him through to coaching roles after retirement

Back in March 2012, Rahul Dravid, the Wall of Indian cricket, retired from the highest level. The now 47-year-old was known for his stupendous level of resilience and he was an epitome of patience and perseverance. But after hanging his boots for India, he was in a bit of a dilemma regarding the next stage of his career. That’s when Kapil Dev, the former Indian captain, stepped in and guided him.

Dravid said that Kapil, the 1983 World Cup-winning Indian captain, advised him to explore for a while before committing to something. In March 2012, it was learned that Dravid would be the captain-cum-mentor of the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

And then after playing his last IPL match in 2013, he went on to become the coach of the India U19 and A teams. Over the years, Dravid has helped a number of youngsters like Shubman Gill and Prithvi Shaw come to the fore.

I thought it was good advice: Rahul Dravid

“After I finished my playing career there were quite a few options and I wasn’t necessarily sure what to do. It was Kapil Dev who gave me this advice actually when I was in coming to the end of my career,” Dravid was quoted as saying on WV Raman’s YouTube channel.

“I bumped into him somewhere and he said: Rahul don’t commit to doing anything straightaway, go out and spend a few years just exploring and doing different things and see what you really like,” he stated.

“I thought it was good advice so I was also a little fortunate that at the back end of my career I was already in a sort of captain cum coach kind of role with Rajasthan Royals,” Dravid added.

In 2018, Dravid was the coach of the U19 team that won the World Cup in New Zealand, beating Australia in the final. Dravid was present at the venue and he expressed his delight. Back in 2019, Dravid was also appointed as the Head of Cricket at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore. In his international career, he scored over 23,000 runs with 48 centuries.