IND vs AUS 2023: Rahul Dravid welcomes debutants Suryakumar Yadav and KS Bharat with stirring speech

Prior to the crucial Test series against Australia, team India head coach, Rahul Dravid, delivered a stirring speech to welcome debutants, Suryakumar Yadav and KS Bharat to the national side. The two cricketing powerhouses have crossed swords in first of the four-match Test series at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium in Nagpur.

Leading to the first red-ball clash, the debutants were handed their respective Test caps by former India head coach Ravi Shastri and Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara. Delighted with the inclusion of the two new players in the Test side, Dravid shared a motivational speech for the debutants which was posted on Twitter by the BCCI.

“Always a special day when a couple of more boys join our family. It's obviously a huge dream come true for millions of people. And there haven't been many people who had the pleasure and privilege of having a Test cap and playing Test cricket for India,” told Dravid.

Wear this with pride and honour: Ravi Shastri

Suryakumar received the 304^th Test cap whereas KS Bharat got the 305^th cap to mark their beginnings with the national side in red-ball cricket. In the same video, former head coach Shastri congratulated Suryakumar and advised the swashbuckling batter to play his natural game even while he is playing in the white-ball format.

“Surya (Suryakumar Yadav), many congratulations. Wear this with pride and honour and remember that every time you step out for your country, you have reached here not with anybody's help. You have reached here because of what you have done. The way you performed over the last few months. So, enjoy your game should not change. Just because of this stamp 'Test match cricket'. You play the way you play and treat it as another game. Enjoy yourself and entertain,” told Shastri.

Speaking about the ongoing clash, the duo did not quite relish a great start as both of them were dismissed for mere eight runs each in the first innings of the Indian batting.