‘Gentleman’ Rahul Dravid orders kids to put down bats as he receives guard of honour. Watch

Rahul Dravid’s tenure as India’s head coach ended in a fairytale as Rohit Sharma and his teammates lifted the T20 World Cup 2024 trophy under his leadership. After remaining undefeated throughout the tournament, the Indian team defeated South Africa by seven runs in a thrilling grand finale. Dravid, who had never won an ICC title as a player, finally fulfilled his dream as a coach. To make the event even more memorable, the victory came on the last day of Dravid’s two-and-a-half-year tenure after the World Cup.

After completing his coaching, Dravid visited the local cricket academy in Bengaluru and was warmly welcomed by the staff and players. The entire staff gave a huge round of applause to the World Cup winning coach and the children raised their bats to pay their respects to him.

Dravid, being a gentleman, told the boys to lower their bats and thanked them for their gesture.

Earlier, at an Indian team felicitation event in Mumbai, Dravid had revealed that a phone call from captain Rohit Sharma was the reason he stayed with the team after their loss in the 2023 World Cup final.

“I wasn’t sure whether to continue after the 50-over World Cup and there was great joy that we had a fantastic ODI World Cup but also disappointment that we didn’t get to the finish line. Rohit picked up the phone and told Rahul to give it another try in six or eight months. It would be great to do it together. I think it was the best call of my life,” Dravid said.

Meanwhile, legendary Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar also said it would be appropriate for Rahul Dravid to be honoured with the Bharat Ratna by the Indian government.

“It would be fitting for the Indian government to award him the Bharat Ratna because that is what he has truly done. A great player and captain of the country who won the famous away series in West Indies, where that win was really meaningful, then also in England, one of the three Indian captains to win a Test match series there, and who has nurtured great talent in his previous role as chairman of the National Cricket Academy and as coach of the senior team,” Gavaskar said.