Rahul Dravid most underrated cricketer in the world, feels Irfan Pathan
Irfan Pathan played under Rahul Dravid's captaincy for several years
|Irfan Pathan, on an Instagram live session, has expressed his former captain Rahul Dravid is the most underrated cricketer in the world. The veteran pacer, who retired earlier this year, also revealed that Dravid was the kind of captain who absolutely transparent about his needs from his players.
Following Ganguly’s controversial dethroning as captain, during the Greg Chappell era, Rahul Dravid was asked to lead the side. However, Dravid’s era as captain has always been a part of Indian cricket that fans hardly hold highly. The 47-year-old veteran batsman went on to captain India in 79 ODIs and recorded wins in 42 matches, while winning 8 and losing 6 out of 25 Tests. Dravid’s highest point in captaincy was when he led India to 17 straight ODI wins while chasing.
However, his name is often omitted when talking about the most successful India captains. But Irfan Pathan, who played under Dravid for years, admitted that the former skipper is not only of the most underrated players but also a great captain who let his players know what he wanted from the team. In an Instagram Live video chat show ‘Beyond the Field’ with ESPNCricinfo presenter Raunak Kapoor, the former India pacer revealed about Dravid’s clear communication as a captain.
“Most, most, most underrated cricketer in the world. Dravid was 100 per cent a great captain. He was very clear on whatever he wanted from the team. Every captain has their way - there are captains who thinks differently, and Rahul Dravid was also one captain who thought differently, but he was very clear in his communication. He would tell ‘this is your role and you have to work accordingly’,” Pathan was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
“He wanted you to do everything. He has played cricket like that as well. He has donned the wicketkeeper’s gloves, he was ready to open, he was ready to bat at no. 3. People would says he is not a great ODI cricketer, but he has scored 10,000+ runs in 50 overs cricket as well. He was such a great team’s player. His style of captaincy was also for the team.”
