“There is no doubt that he is a real inspiration to many players in this team, to many boys and girls in India,” Dravid said. “His numbers and stats speak for themselves, his performances – it’s all in the book. But I think the best thing for me to see firsthand is the effort and work he puts in behind the scenes when no one is watching This reflects the fact that he is going to play 500 games.
“Despite playing 500 games and being here for 12-13 years he’s still very strong, very fit, has energy and enthusiasm, it’s really fantastic. It’s not easy, it’s because of the hard work behind the scenes Is.” He has made a lot of sacrifices in his career and he wants to continue to do so. This is something that is great for a coach, you can see that a lot of young players will take notice and be inspired by it.
“You don’t have to say anything, just the way you conduct yourself, the way you handle yourself, the way you practice and your fitness, it’s a lot of things that come through the system. There is inspiration for the players. Hopefully they follow it and they get inspired to play so many games like Virat. Longevity comes with a lot of hard work, discipline, adaptability and he has shown all this. It will last for a long time. will continue.”
“It’s great to see Virat’s journey,” Dravid said. “When I was playing, he was a young player. And even though I was not in the team, I watched from the outside with great admiration what he did. and what it has continued to achieve.
“And now in the last 18 months (since taking over as coach) getting to know him a bit, interacting with him, getting to know him personally as well, it’s been a lot of fun. I’ve really enjoyed it, I’ve learned a lot from him.” Learned a lot. So in a lot of ways, I’ve really enjoyed it and hope they’ve enjoyed it too.”