‘SHOW OF EMOTION IS NOT AGGRESSION’

Rahul Dravid is as inscrutable as they come. Quiet, reserved and extremely passionate about his cricket, he has managed to hide his real personality.

Have you always been Rahul Dravid, as the world now knows you?
Well, the basic personality doesn’t change too much. With time, you gain experience. You travel the world and see different things. That probably helps you grow as a person. I am sure that has happened with me too. I used to be a lot shier earlier. Now I am a much more confident.

Have you always been single-minded about life?
I guess I have always had a certain amount of it. I have always had this thing of doing whatever I did well, whether it was studies, games or whatever else. I enjoyed trying to be single minded about everything, about trying to get the best out of myself. That’s probably something that hasn’t changed too much.

Isn’t it ironical, one of the many in your career, that you broke into the ODI side first?
Not so much actually. During those days there were no separate teams for Tests and ODIs. Whatever team was being selected, you either made it or not. That concept started in ‘97-98. But, yes, in a lot of ways my game was more suited for Tests at that time. That’s why I consider myself very lucky I came on the tour to England in 1996. It gave me a chance for 3-day, 4-day cricket and, once I did well there, I knew I could translate that confidence into the ODI game too.

Your debut was good. But Sourav made the century and stole the thunder. Hasn’t that been the pattern in your career, with Laxman or Sachin or someone always stealing the limelight? Do you feel cheated?
Not at all. No reason to feel that way. I am glad I made 95 runs and got a great start to my career. People keep telling me about this but I always look back and feel that I have nothing to feel bad about. I got everything that I deserved. I have scored a lot of runs, all over the world. I got lot of success and people have recognised my performances both in India and abroad. I am pretty contended and satisfied with everything I have received. I am very happy with the way my career has gone. I have always tried to get the best out of my potential and talent and I have done that. I look back at the way I used to play the ODI game 10 years ago and the way I play it now and I can say I have definitely improved. Even my Test cricket, I know I have only got better over the years.

Was it tough in the beginning, especially
as you didn’t have a fixed slot?
Looking back, I would say it has done me a world of good. As I batted at different places, it helped me realise the needs and demands of different positions. Today, I am comfortable batting anywhere. You can ask me to do anything and I know I will manage because I have already done it. I developed different skills, different approaches which are needed for different slots. I saw each of those positions as a chance to learn new things, to adapt my game to the situation. I guess it pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped me challenge myself. I have no complaints at all.

There is a perception you are very reserved. That you don’t spend too much time with the team members.
That’s not true really. I do spend time with the chaps. I am a little reserved and a bit quiet, and sometimes tend to give the impression that I don’t go out. But the fact is everything gets exaggerated.

But you don’t really hang out with the guys?
Hanging out for me is not going to a pub, nor going to a disco. That’s never been my idea of hanging out. And I have never done that. But I have done the other quieter things, things that people haven’t noticed. I am one of the guys who goes out a bit more, especially on tours. I like to experience places and the country that I am visiting. I go out with the chaps in the evenings too but it can get a bit tiring. Especially in Test cricket, so after being on the field for the whole day I end up doing room service. But I’ve never felt I am not a team-guy.

So it is just a perception...
I guess it is. I can’t change anybody’s perception or do things differently just to make people see me in a different way. I guess I have to live with it. Because whatever I do, however I do, people will think what they want to. It’s like my batting, you know, however quickly I play and however many shots I play I am still always going to be perceived as a technically strong, defensive player.

Many feel you are not aggressive enough on the field? That it is holding you back as captain?
Maybe, I don’t show my emotions that well. I have always been like that; but it has brought me success. For me aggression is not show of emotion. It never has been. For me aggression is performance at the end of the day. You can show as much emotion as you want on the field but at the end of the day what counts is how you have performed.
That’s anyway not my personality. If you look at my idols, a Sampras, a Federer, a Tiger Woods, you will see they don’t show much emotion either. At least not on the field. But you don’t call them non-aggressive; they are not less tough than any. In fact, they are the toughest, the greatest sport has ever seen. And that for me is important. Even in cricket if you look at someone I’ve admired, someone like a Steve Waugh, he never showed much emotion on the field either. But he was as tough as they came. Even a Sachin Tendulkar. You don’t see him jumping up and down either. When someone asks me about an opposition player if he is tough or aggressive, I just look at how he plays, not how he behaves.

But that might be their way of letting off steam.
It could be. It might be the individual’s way of doing it; and there’s nothing wrong with it if someone feels comfortable showing emotion and rid of all that pent up energy and pressure. If he feels he performs better that way then good luck to him. It works differently for different people. For example, in tennis, McEnroe’s way was different from Borg. Both were equally successful. Today, Federer’s way is different from Nadal’s. You just got to work out what is good for you, what works. In India, we get caught up with this thing, even get a little carried away. We often treat emotional show and aggression as the same.

You too have shown a bit of emotion on the field though...
Oh yes, for example, there was an incident early on in my career when I got a hundred in Kolkata. I was a bit worked up and I pointed the bat in a frenetic way. And so many people came up to me and said, ‘oh yeah, you were really aggressive, fantastic’. I look back at it now and feel that was not the great thing, not the highlight of my innings. In fact, that was an easy thing to do pumping my fist and raising the bat or jumping up and down. It didn’t require any skill. The tougher part was to get the 100. For me that’s what counts. That’s what I have focussed on all my life. In that Kolkata knock, the bat thing was such a minor incident. Just a reaction and not indicative of me at all. Then, there was another incident when I hit Allan Donald for a six and Donald had this thing with me and people said, ‘oh what a great moment’. And I felt that wasn’t the thing for me. The challenge was actually before that, when I actually hit the shot. That was the real thrill. The fact that I was able to play it was aggression for me. I guess that’s my personality.

But do you really get charged up during the course of an innings or a match?
Sure I do. Like anybody else. But my way of getting charged up is totally different from the others. It’s more introverted. There are days when I know I am going to play well. I know I will be in a state of mind, a zone as they say. For me, it is important to try and get into that state of mind, when I am totally focussed. If anything takes me away from that I am not happy. Everyone says I am so cool and calm; but then some others say I am not aggressive so it works both ways. I am as nervous as the guy sitting next to me; or as aggressive as him. I just don’t portray it on the field.

Do you agree wicket-keeping transformed you as a batsman?
I know people have said that. But they forget I wasn’t keeping in Test matches. It was also a time when my Test batting was flowering. So just to say that wicket-keeping helped my batting flower is not a right assessment. I don’t thing ‘keeping suddenly made me a better batsman. I went through a better phase in my career at that time. I had played four or five years of cricket by then and was developing. My personality was changing too. I was more confident and was performing better too. As I was doing well in Test matches it helped my Oneday batting as well. The ‘keeping, no doubt, helped my fitness; getting a physical trainer in the team helped too. Both helped me play longer knocks in Tests. My game evolved after 2001-02 and ‘keeping just happened to be a part of that process.

The Wright era took you to a different plane .
After 2000, Sourav and I suddenly became senior players. Sachin was already one. I felt it was time for me to grow too as a player, in a way. Take my game to another level for the sake of the team. I was pretty much a youngster till then trying to do my bit in the team. Now, after playing for almost four years, I felt I needed to kick on both personally and as a team player and the new set-up gave me the opportunity to do that. I really enjoyed it.

And then the Chappell-Ganguly war broke out. How prepared were you to take over as captain?
Well, as prepared as one can be. I had been vice-captain for four and a half years and you learn a lot in that time. I guess I was as prepared as one can be. It happened suddenly and unexpectedly but you can’t predict everything that happens. You can’t be sure about anything anyway. As for the captaincy, until you really do it you never really know how prepared you are or not. Maybe I was as prepared as I could be.

The World Cup must have been really disappointing. It must have taught you so much. About yourself, about India...
Yes, I was disappointed. It was a big tournament and we wanted to do well. It was built up so much in India. I truly believed we had a good team too, that we could do well in the tournament. It didn’t work out. Personally, it hurt very much. But like I said earlier it’s over. It has been a while now. There have been other disappointments as well in my career. You just learn from them and move on. There are new challenges, new things to look forward to.

How is life different as a captain?
There is obviously a lot more to think about as captain. I have to think about the toss, team composition, strategies. So a lot more time goes into that. You are preparing not just for your own game but also for a lot of other people too. It’s the same at the end of the day too. Plans for the next day, who is doing well, who is not. What do the other guys need, their demands, their feelings. It’s not easy.

At the end of the day how do you manage?
I try and keep a balance to it. Keep a perspective on the whole thing. In some ways I am quite lucky about this. It comes naturally to me, to stay balanced in victory and defeat. I don’t get too excited on good days so I don’t get too despondent on bad ones either. It’s part of my personality I guess. Maybe I am not externally very emotional. I just look at the future and focus on what needs to be done for it. It works quite well for me. Also, I think of it as a game, as an experience and as each experience is important you gotta try and enjoy it.

You are doing this new campaign for Reebok. Two in One. Do you really believe in such a concept?
Yes. There are different facets of a personality which we do show and we bring to each and everything that we do. There’s your profession and you show one personality in that; but there’s another side of you too, beyond your profession. It’s interesting as it captures both very nicely. I enjoyed doing it.

What kind of shoes do you prefer?
I prefer the court masters by Reebok. I get them spiked up. I like their balance and feel very stable in them.

What features do you look for in your cricket gear? What tip do you have for our readers?
Three things: Performance, dependability and protection. I would say go for stuff in which you feel comfortable. If you are buying shoes for sport, go for something that’s most suited for your sport. It has to be stylish but must be good for performance too.
They have brought a RD 10 shoe to commemorate 10 years of association.

What do you like about it?
The good thing about my association with Reebok is that it is a brand I endorse and actually use in my profession too. It’s very integral to my performance. I interact with them closely in terms of what I need to perform on the field.

What made you stick to them in an era of shifting loyalties?
Reebok’s been a fantastic brand for me. I’ve built a relationship with it, not just professionally but personally too. It’s of course one of the leading brands in the world too.

By Bobilli Vijay Kumar