“Vaibhav [Suryavanshi] is very fortunate to have Rahul bhai with him,” said someone from within the Rajasthan Royals (RR) camp. “If you see in the last few days, Vaibhav has seen the entire spectrum. From scoring a 35-ball 100 and being called the next prodigy, to scoring a second-ball duck and being labelled a one-game wonder, the boy has experienced everything. And that’s where Rahul bhai, because of the man that he is, makes such a big difference.”
What exactly did he mean by saying that Rahul Dravid was making a big difference? “Vaibhav’s behaviour hasn’t changed,” said the official. “Neither was he gloating after the 100, nor is he in depression after the second-ball duck. That’s Rahul bhai for you. No over-the-top reaction either way. He has impressed that on Vaibhav, and I am sure it will make the youngster a better person and cricketer.”
Why is he so deeply appreciative of Dravid, and why does he think that Vaibhav will benefit enormously from being under his tutelage? While there are no easy answers to these questions, a deep dive into Rahul’s philosophy does leave us with some pointers.
“When you play team sport, you need to do the not-so-glamourous things to be able to make a difference,” Rahul had said to me a couple of years ago. “You are the one responsible for the environment around you, and it is important you do the things that not many will want to do. That’s why it’s a team.
“I can tell you I was the most grumpy at the end of a day’s play if I had dropped a catch, which I believed could have been taken. Much more than getting out for zero, dropping a catch made me really upset and grumpy. Getting out early was more a personal disappointment. Yes, the runs were for the team and all, but still it was more personal than anything else. But dropping a catch meant I was not able to do something for a teammate and that upset me more. A catch allows you to enjoy as a team and be happy at someone else’s success, and that’s what team sport is all about.”
From the above words, two things are clear. First, Dravid tried his best to ensure that individual egos and fancies didn’t take precedence in the dressing room. Second, he pushed the boys to do things that may not have got them headlines the following morning, but often resulted in his team winning the match.
That’s exactly what he will do for Vaibhav. He will make sure that the kid is insulated from all the social-media madness that is going on around him. Second, Dravid will also make sure that neither success nor failure gets to him. A century or a duck is not the end of it, and no one knows that better than Dravid. In sport, there is always a next match. For every November 19 (World Cup final defeat in 2023), there is a June 29 (T20 World Cup final triumph). Dravid will surely pass this on to Vaibhav. The kid couldn’t have found a better mentor.