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I see adversities as opportunities to excel : Dravid
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Former India skipper
Rahul Dravid, who returned to the Indian team
after being dropped for the ODI series against
Pakistan, said every adversity was a new
challenge to excel and prove his ability.
Talking to the media while inaugurating a photo
exhibition at Behala College in the southern
fringes of the city, he said, ''I think I love
challenges. There is a certain desire and hunger
in me that eggs me on to prove myself."
"I surely enjoy
pressure. Whenever the team or I am on the
backfoot I see it as |
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an opportunity to showcase
my skills and prove a point,'' Dravid, nicknamed 'The
Wall', for standing tall amid ruins of Indian batting
time and again, said.
He then went on to add that in studies if one sees
adversity as a threat there is a possibility that he
will fail. '' In sports it's the same,'' said Rahul, who
made his way back to the side scoring a spectacular
century in the Ranji after being dropped from the side
in the one day series against Pakistan.
Asked what records he had in his mind, Rahul, the
fighter said, ''After playing for so long, you stop
thinking about records. I want to do the best I can. The
numbers and runs don't matter much anymore. What matters
is whether I can win matches and play critical innings
when the team needs me and if I can continue to do that
I will be happy.''
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"He then went on
to add that ''in order to succeed at the
international level, one needs to sharpen other
skills too, but most important thing was to love
the game, love cricket.''
''You need to work hard, learn to stay focussed,
but most importantly you need to rediscover
yourself as a person and love the game,'' he
said.
Asked how he managed to handle the private and
professional life, he said, ''I owe it to my
family, my parents, my wife and my little son.
They always support me and help me focus. I like
to keep my personal life away from the
professional life away |
from the professional life. And they help me maintain
that. My family is precious to me.''
''Love for the game needs a lot of sacrifice. I had very
supportive parents. It was a case of time management
between school and cricket. So I had to sacrifice on
films, friends and a lot of other things. But I enjoyed
doing what I was doing,'' he added.
Asked to comment on his love affair with Eden Gardens,
he said, '' It is a venue where I have one of my most
memorable innings.
Laxman and myself had that partnership that helped us
win against Australia after they had induced a follow-on
on us. They had won 16 Tests on a trot before that. And
winning that Test was all the more commendable.''
On March 14, 2001, V V S Laxman rewrote history books
making an unbeaten 275 with Rahul Dravid, who batted
heroically for an undefeated 155.
The feared Australian bowling attack failed to take a
single wicket through the day as the two Indian batsmen
added a record 357 runs for the fifth wicket and were
unseparated at the close of the fourth day's play with
India having made 589 for four.
Besides this Rahul recounted his first century against
Bengal in Ranji here in 1991, and centuries in both the
innings against Pakistan the last time the duo played
here.
''I think it's the venue that makes it so special. There
are innumerable sweet memories. When the 1,00,000 crowd
eggs you on, I think you want to showcase all your
skills.''
''I hope I can repeat the feats here in Eden in the
second Test that gets underway on Friday,'' he said.
--UNI, Kolkata
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