Rahul Dravid boosts the morale of the Canadian U19 boys

India U19 coach Rahul Dravid gave yet another example of his humbleness after he went to the Canadian teams and had a talk with them, consoling them after they incurred a heavy loss during a warm-up game.

India U19 thrashed their Canadian counterparts by 372 runs in a warm-up match at Dhaka. India had posted a commanding 485 with the help of centuries from Ricky Bhui and skipper Ishan Kishan and Half-centuries from Rishabh Pant and Mahipal Lomror. The target proved too daunting for Canada and they were toppled for just 113 runs in reply.

Dravid had a long talk with them, and explained why they suffered the loss they did – it wasn’t because they weren’t as skilled, but due to the vastly different conditions the two teams came from. He insisted that the boys “don’t get disheartened”. He opened himself to questions from the squad, and fielded queries ranging from light-hearted and quirky to the serious.

“He said ‘don’t get disheartened by any means’ and explained that his boys played cricket outdoors, that they trained all the time and that they didn’t do any other thing apart from cricket. Mamik Luthra, the Canada bowling all-rounder, told Wisden India.

He said because of all that, his boys were more match-fit, and that they were accustomed to pressures of a match.

Canada team’s vice-captain Miraj Patel also expressed his happiness over meeting the legend, “It was basically a dream come true for me, personally, and for a lot of the boys as well. Meeting Rahul Dravid is always a pleasure. He is a true gentleman in the sport, and his thoughts certainly gave me a boost to my game, and it has helped me out.”

The result of the pep talk was clearly visible in their next warm-up as Canada beat Ireland Under-19 by four wickets. The team will want to kick on and qualify from a tough Group B, also comprising Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, to whom they lost their opener. But, even if they don’t, they will look back at this tournament fondly, if only for Dravid.