Immediately at Chandigarh, two previous mates, Rahul Dravid and Ricky Ponting, might be in rival dug-outs. And, like all the time, they may fiercely guard the curiosity of the IPL groups they coach or mentor. However be courageous to guess your heirloom, on TVs capturing the eventuality of Ponting strolling as much as Dravid to examine on his fractured leg and the 2 sharing fun.
The teaching nook of the Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals IPL sport has a backstory with extra grace and gravitas, than any match-plot a T20 sport can ever throw up.
Every week earlier than this Mohali sport, Ponting was a visitor at The Indian Categorical Concept Change. It was one Dravid-question that turned the clock again to the period when the 2 batting greats, each No.3 batsmen, completed their Take a look at careers with unimaginable, however eerily related, numbers – 13,000 one thing runs in about 160 Assessments at averages of round 52.
Reporters often have a set-up to squeeze in a tough query, it’s an alleged simpler path to stroll the movie star, previous a thorny place. So to get Ponting’s view on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s unsure future, the Dravid nudge was considered.
Again in 2008, after a house sequence in opposition to Australia the place Dravid had only one 50 in 4 Assessments, Ponting reached out to the ageing Indian and satisfied him to remain on. And thus the query that roughly went as: After the latest BGT catastrophe, would he have repeated that 2008 Dravid pep discuss to Rohit and Virat?
In hindsight, it may be stated that with Ponting, the final word Aussie straight-talker, the sweetening of the powerful query was a waste of effort. Anyhow, he would have answered. Although, the Dravid point out did convey to fore that uncommon and quickly rising extinct skilled high quality that the 2 possess. It’s referred to as mutual respect and it shouldn’t be confused for that in-vogue virtually automated reciprocity in ‘liking’ posts of friends.
Right here’s Ponting’s model of the occasions that unfolded on the finish of the sequence the place Dravid had only one 50 in 4 Assessments and the calls of his ouster within the media have been getting louder.
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“Rahul and I’ve all the time bought alongside very well. We have been fierce rivals, each No.3 batters for our international locations for a very long time. Each ended up having fairly related Take a look at match data. See for gamers like him, class and high quality don’t go away. It generally will get buried below a number of different stuff, and sure folks can’t discover their approach out of these holes.
“I simply had a chat with him (Dravid) and stated ‘Look, … neglect about all of the exterior stuff, consider in your self and return to the issues which have made you participant. In the event you concentrate on these issues and don’t fear concerning the little issues, I’m positive you possibly can end off your profession on a robust be aware’. That’s all I stated. He went away and did that. And guess what once I was on the finish of my profession, and didn’t make as many runs as I might have favored, he was the primary on the cellphone and made me conscious of the issues I had informed him.”
Two nice powers!
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— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) April 4, 2025
As in comparison with the detailed Dravid reply, the one about Rohit and Virat was quick. Ponting stated the 2 Indian stalwarts can’t be written off as they’ve usually bounced again from setbacks. “Take a look at cricket is the factor that’s changing into tougher for them proper now. Virat is the very best white-ball participant ever … he has been capable of do it when he will get in an enormous gap. He’s a high-quality participant and, possibly Rohit is a bit the identical.”
Processing what Ponting stated about India’s greatest-ever No.3 and going again to Dravid’s tribute to the Aussie, comes with a realisation. Regardless of going neck-and-neck throughout their lengthy journey, Dravid and Ponting didn’t act like petty athletes in a run-race. They acted like dignified fellow-travelers pursuing greatness. The boys with a formidable physique of labor have been true believers of cricket being a crew sport not some solo seek for private objectives. Each valued the brotherhood of batsmanship, they coaxed one another to remain on target. If that meant being pushed again on the run-charts, so be it.
Dravid has stated how Ponting’s sensitivity in the direction of his career-crisis got here as a shock. “Coming from somebody who was seen as a troublesome man, somebody we Indians had had so many skirmishes with, this was a revelation. We didn’t know one another properly however he took the difficulty to speak to me and supply these phrases of consolation,” Dravid would write in a touching tribute when Ponting retired.
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Ponting and Dravid are contrasting characters that had so much in frequent too. (Reuters)
Contrasting personalities
The cricketing world would perceive Dravid’s astonishment. Solely a mentalist would have seen the ‘gentle facet’ of the arduous as nails fighter from Tasmania. The gum-chewing ‘take no prisoners’ batsman, recognized for dismissing something remotely quick in entrance of sq. along with his trademark pull shot, had a sure ruthlessness about him. He was the captain of an Australian crew that was a cricketing galactico. They have been the Titans and likewise the Goodfellas.
Ponting in his youth confirmed indicators of drifting. He liked his drink however later in life had the braveness to speak about his battles with alcoholism. He sledged and at instances pressured umpires to provide selections he wished.
Compared, Dravid was cricket’s final good boy. They have been equals as batsmen however their captaincy report was very totally different. Dravid didn’t have outcomes or the crew as proficient because the one Ponting led.
However these contrasting characters had so much in frequent too. They punished themselves at coaching to really feel assured when on subject. Cricket meant the world to them, that they had deep gratitude for its historical past and tried to inculcate that within the groups they led and coached. They usually additionally spent a lifetime in search of solutions cricket had thrown at them.
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“That core of your nature, to discover a approach, by no means leaves you. Which is why retirement is tough — as a result of your nature doesn’t let you quit the sport. You find yourself battling your self and it’s a large combat. It’s irritating, and I’ve been by a few of it myself,” Dravid would write about himself and Ponting.
There’s a line in Dravid’s farewell piece for Ponting that talks about their frequent dream. “You’ll miss it for a bit, Ricky, however there’s a plus facet. Like we all the time believed, the commentary field is a a lot, a lot simpler place to be.”
How mistaken he was. Dravid is never seen with the microphone in hand and Ponting too isn’t comfortable being only a pundit. One broke his foot whereas enjoying a membership sport along with his son however nonetheless wheels to the bottom in his chair to assist his crew discover their misplaced glory. The opposite as of late spends all his waking hours plotting IPL’s perennial under-achievers’ title bid. Prefer it was the case all by their enjoying days, they’re again within the race. However that wouldn’t cease Ponting strolling as much as Dravid and asking him about his fractured leg.
