During his close to 14 months tenure as the head coach of the Indian men's cricket team so far, Rahul Dravid has quite often shed the stoic, no-nonsense tag (if ever there was one) by letting the emotions get the better of him during an Indian victory or a century from one of his batters. It, however, is always a box office when Dravid shouts, fists up in the air, and gives a high-five to a player a little aggressively. On Saturday, during the India vs New Zealand 2nd ODI in Raipur, he did none. Or at least the cameras didn't catch him doing anything close to this. But what he did was even more interesting.
After India's commanding 8-wicket win over the visitors, which also ensured their series win with an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match affair, Dravid was spotted doing a ninja-like move - that is perhaps the best and the closest way to describe those hand movements of his.
Harsha Bhogle, who was in the commentary box at that time, was in a fix "Try and decode that for us," he said.
It wasn't clear whether it was just an impromptu move from Dravid or he was indeed signalling something to the unbeaten Indian batters Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan. After flinging his arms he did extend his right arm in a way that is akin to a stroke in cricket.
Watch Video: Rahul Dravid's post-match gesture after India's victory over New Zealand in the 2nd ODI
It was a complete performance from India with both bat and ball. It was the pace attack led by Mohammed Shami (3/18) that ran through the New Zealand top-order, reducing them to 15/5 after Rohit Sharma opted to bowl. Then spinners came in and wrapped things up to bowl New Zealand out for a paltry 108.
{{/usCountry}}It was a complete performance from India with both bat and ball. It was the pace attack led by Mohammed Shami (3/18) that ran through the New Zealand top-order, reducing them to 15/5 after Rohit Sharma opted to bowl. Then spinners came in and wrapped things up to bowl New Zealand out for a paltry 108.
{{/usCountry}}India's openers Rohit and Shubman Gill then did not break a sweat while racing through the powerplay, exactly the opposite of what their New Zealand counterparts did. Rohit was dismissed for 51 and Virat Kohli stumped off Mitchell Santner but Shubman Gill (40*) and Ishan Kishan took India home in the 21st over with 8 wickets in hand.
Captain Rohit heaped praise on his bowlers, and credited them for the five-match winning run they have enjoyed so far.
"The last five games, the bowlers have really stepped up. Whatever we have asked of them, they have stepped up and delivered. You don't usually see this type of seam movement in India, you generally see it outside India. These guys have some serious skills, they work really hard and it's great to see them being rewarded," he said.
The two sides will meet for the inconsequential final ODI on Tuesday.