Ricky Ponting, the top coach of Punjab Kings, not too long ago talked about his friendship with Rahul Dravid, who coaches the Rajasthan Royals. Each of them are considered legends in cricket, every with a protracted record of spectacular performances all through their careers. They each performed within the essential No.3 batting place, which has led to some memorable moments in cricket historical past. A standout event was in the course of the 2003 Check sequence after they each scored double centuries within the second Check match between India and Australia.
In an interview with the Indian Categorical, Ponting reminisced a couple of time when he reached out to Dravid after a troublesome sequence. He seen Dravid was struggling, feeling the load of media scrutiny throughout that interval. We might all see he was battling, Ponting defined. Rahul and I’ve at all times had a great rapport. We had been intense rivals for a few years, each competing as No.3 batsmen for our groups.
Ponting felt that regardless of the encircling stress, Dravid’s expertise was nonetheless there, simply buried below the stress. So, he determined to have a dialog with him. “I advised him to disregard all of the noise exterior and concentrate on what made him profitable within the first place. I stated, ‘Simply imagine in your self and keep on with your recreation.’ And look what occurred! Later in my profession, I discovered myself in an identical scenario. Dravid was the primary to name me and share the identical form of encouragement.
Ponting didn’t cease there; he additionally shared his ideas on different present gamers like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. He referred to them as champion gamers, mentioning that they shouldn’t be counted out as a result of they’re recognized for bouncing again when issues don’t go effectively. Virat has proven he can pull by way of robust patches, and I feel Rohit is minimize from the identical material, he stated. Check cricket appears to be a more durable problem for them recently, however Rohit has made it clear he’s not going wherever within the shorter codecs. In truth, Virat is, indubitably, the perfect white-ball participant I’ve ever seen.
Ponting jokingly talked about that whereas he may not supply the identical pep discuss to Rohit and Virat as he did to Dravid, he really enjoys watching their performances on the sphere and hopes they proceed to play for a very long time. “Whether or not I’ll ship them the identical message I gave Rahul firstly of the IPL? Effectively, that’s a distinct story, he chuckled, “However I do hope to see them shine in worldwide cricket for years forward.”
