Rahul Dravid, who recently joined Indian Premier League (IPL) side Rajasthan Royals (RR) as head coach, reminisced over his club cricket days at the Hindustan Aeronautic Limited (HAL) in Bengaluru and cherished the memories of discussing cricket with yesteryear greats over two eggs and a small glass of milk as a young boy. 

“After the practice, HAL would give us two eggs and one small glass of milk. I would always stay back for that glass of milk and those eggs,” Dravid was quoted as saying by India Today during his speech on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Mount Joy Cricket Club. 

“Not because I wanted the milk and eggs, but because I wanted to sit and listen to BK Kumar or Nandan talking about cricket. And it used to be great fun to listen to them and learn so much from them,” added the 51-year-old, reminding the audience of how important it is for young cricketers to pick the brains of senior pros to learn about the tricks of the trade. 

Dravid, who scored 24208 international runs for India, feels that the days when sporting talent was only visible in big cities are gone. “If you look at Indian cricket today, Indian cricket is solid, it’s extremely powerful. One of the big reasons for that is that talent comes from everywhere, from all over the country.”

“You just look at the standard of the Ranji Trophy… there is no team in the South Zone today that you can walk in and say that you will comfortably beat,” he added. 

Popularly known as The Wall, Dravid highlighted the need for cricket’s access to youth from all strata of society. “We need cricket to be egalitarian, we need it to be all over the place.”

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