Indian cricketers enjoy a massive fan following wherever they go. In India, it’s quite evident when any cricketer goes to some place, he’s surrounded by cameras and fans all around. 

Such incidents have happened on several occasions and it was once witnessed by none other than former New Zealand cricketer Ross Taylor as well.

During his stint with Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2011, Taylor played with Rahul Dravid, who is one of the most popular personalities in India. 

Writing in his book Ross Taylor: Black & White, Taylor recalled how he along with Johan Botha forced Dravid for a coffee in a mall and then the outing went wrong as the fans surrounded them in the mall. 

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"The South African off-spinner Johan Botha and I were sitting next to Rahul Dravid at breakfast in Jaipur. We asked him if he wanted to go for a coffee; he didn’t really, but we twisted his arm. 

“We got a cab to a five-storeyed mall. We hadn’t taken any security with us, which was naive. Within two minutes the mall was packed – there were at least 4000 people – and we had to get mall security to extract us,” Ross Taylor wrote. 

Taylor narrated how Dravid "saw it coming" but played it down for Taylor and Botha.

“I’m sure Rahul saw it coming, but he was too polite to turn us down. “Botes” and I were profusely apologetic on the way back to the hotel. 

“Rahul played it down with his usual class, saying we probably would’ve been okay in a bigger city like Mumbai but, in the smaller cities, they didn’t see big-name cricketers that often. Jaipur’s population is around four million. After that, coffee with Dravid was always in the hotel." he wrote. 

Taylor recently retired from international cricket whereas Dravid is currently the head coach of Team India. He's likely to play a big role for India in the Asia Cup and T20 World Cup 2022.

(Ross Taylor: Black & White inputs)