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When I was injured after the IPL, I was really disappointed: U-19 WC winner explains how Dravid’s words ‘fired’ him up
"It's important how you motivate yourself and come out of the phase stronger. His words really fired me up and helped me improve as a bowler," he said on Dravid.
Rahul Dravid’s association with the National Cricket Academy and the Under-19 team has been hailed by many former cricketers and fans. Dravid has been in charge of the set-up to develop future stars of Indian cricket and his efforts have reaped rich rewards for the country. Many younger cricketers have credited the former India cricketers for helping them become better at the game.
Another story of Dravid’s positive influence on younger cricketers has been narrated by Under-19 World Cup-winner Kamlesh Nagarkoti. The 21-year-old pacer formed a lethal partnership with Shivam Mavi in the tournament as India managed to outperform every team in the U-19 World Cup. Nagarkoti explained how they managed to improve their performance with the help of coach Dravid.
"We were playing cricket together since the past 2-3 years. So we got experience from those games and we also had Dravid sir who used to guide us. So learning from that, we used to try and improve our game. Me and Mavi used to plan as to how to get a particular batsman out, how to back each other, and how to help each other if one of us wasn't bowling consistently well," Nagarkoti told Sportskeeda.
After winning the World Cup, Nagarkoti was picked up Kolkata Knight Riders for the Indian Premier League. But he got injured before the tournament and then had to go throught a lengthy period of rehabilitation. Nagarkoti narrates how Dravid’s words during that phase ‘fired’ him up and helped him improve as a bowler.
"When I was injured after the IPL, I was really disappointed. But my other coaches and Dravid sir always tried to motivate me. In NCA, whenever I used to meet Dravid sir, he used to make me understand that such situations occur in the lives of many athletes. But it's important how you motivate yourself and come out of the phase stronger. His words really fired me up and helped me improve as a bowler."
