Rahul Dravid wrote me the most beautiful email to explain the art of playing spin: Kevin Pietersen

During the course of his illustrious career, Rahul Dravid established himself as one of the vital cogs of Indian cricket. ‘The Wall’ amassed over 20,000 international runs (13, 288 runs in Tests and 10,889 ODI runs) while flaunting his ‘defensive’ batting forte at the biggest level.

One of the highlights of Dravid’s batting was also his resilient and patient approach. He also was one of India’s best players against spin bowling and many players came to Dravid for seeking advice on countering spin bowling. One of those players was England star Kevin Pietersen.

Kevin Pietersen had also mentioned about Dravid in his book

Pietersen, who last donned the England jersey in 2014, revealed how Dravid sent him a ‘beautiful’ email that helped him counter spin. “Dravid wrote me the most beautiful email, explaining the art of playing spin and ever since then it was a whole new world. The key point was looking for the length as soon as the ball was delivered – wait for the spinner and make your decision,” Pietersen told Sky Sports.

Pietersen had also mentioned about Dravid in his book– “KP: The Autobiography”. Pietersen had revealed what Dravid had highlighted in the email. “One good practice is to bat against Swann and Monty without pads or with just knee pads (maybe not a day before a game!). When you have no pads it will force you, sometimes painfully, to get the bat forward of the pads and will force you to watch the ball,” read a part of Dravid’s email.

“Also, the leg will be less keen to push out without any protection. My coach would tell me you should never need pads to play spin!! Watch the ball and trust yourself. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t play spin, I have seen you and you can!”

The England stalwart also went on to amass significant runs for his national side. The right-hander amassed 8181 runs in the longest format and compiled 4440 ODI runs with a total of 32 centuries. He was also considered as one of England’s best players to tackle spin bowling.  Pietersen played a key role in England’s famous 2-1 Test triumph against India in 2012.