Indian batting legend Rahul Dravid called time on his illustrious international cricket career in 2012. While Dravid took up the coaching job of India A and Under-19 sides in 2015, he initially explored various options after retirement with the advice of the great Kapil Dev.
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"After I finished (playing), there were quite a few options and I was not sure what to do. It was Kapil Dev who gave me this advice actually when I was coming to the end of my career," Dravid told India women's team coach WV Raman on his Youtube channel 'Inside Out'.
"I bumped into him somewhere and he said 'Rahul, don't commit to doing anything straightaway, go out and spend a few years just exploring and doing different things and see what you really like'. I thought it was good advice."
The former India skipper said he liked doing commentary but later found "a little disconnect" from the game.
Notably, Dravid had covered India’s tour of South Africa in 2013 and India’s tour of Australia in 2014 as a commentator.
"...the thing that gave me the most satisfaction was really being involved in the game and being connected with the boys. I really liked the coaching side of things and I got sort of involved in that when the opportunity came up to do some coaching with India A and Under-19," Dravid said.
"I thought it was a good place to start and and took it up and I've really enjoyed it since. I just feel a lot more satisfying to be involved in the coaching side of things. Especially the developmental side of coaching, whether India A, Under-19 or the NCA. It's really given me the opportunity to work with a lot of the players without having to worry about the immediate results which I think is a really nice space for me to work in," added the legendary batsman, who piled up 13288 runs from 164 Tests between 1996 and 2012.
He backed the BCCI's decision to restrict U-19 players to one World Cup only.
"Instead of just 15-20 players, we were able to give 45 to 50 players exposure to the facilities at NCA, good coaches, good physios, good trainers, so it broadens the pool," said Dravid, who is currently heading the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.
Dravid also confessed that he doubted himself as an ODI player when he was axed from the national team in 1998 mainly due to his strike-rate.
"There have been phases in my international career (when I felt insecure). I was dropped from the ODI team in 1998. I had to fight my way back in, was away from the Indian team for a year," he said.
"There were certain insecurities than about whether I'm a good enough one-day player or not because I always wanted to be a Test player, was coached to be a Test player, hit the ball on the ground, don't hit the ball in the air, coaching like that. You sort of worry whether you had the skills to be able to do it (in an ODI)."
Dravid bounced back to the ODI side ahead of the 1999 World Cup in England and finished the showpiece tournament as a leading run-getter (461). The right-hander later featured in the 2003 World Cup and also captained the side in the 2007 World Cup.
Rahul Dravid represented India in 344 ODIs, scoring 10889 runs including 12 centuries and 83 fifties.
Talking about choosing cricket over academics, the 47-year-old said: "Growing up as a young cricketer in India is not easy. In the time that I grew up there was only Ranji Trophy and revenue was so poor. I had to forgo a CA or MBA to pursue cricket so there was insecurity."
(With PTI inputs)
