Melbourne: Rahul Dravid feared end of his career due to slump in form at one stage but drew inspiration from fellow Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar’s fighting spirit to not only revive his career but also emerge as the leading Test run scorer this season.
Dravid revealed that he felt like it was all over for him due to prolonged lean patch and that he put too much pressure on himself during that period, worrying what would be the best time to call it quits.
But changed his approach by observing how Tendulkar had come out of a similar tough period.
“I thought I had played my last Test match in Australia. If you have been someone who has contributed a lot for your team over the years, then to get the feeling that the team is carrying you is something that is not easy to get used to … It was a difficult period for me,” Dravid said in an interview with Sydney Morning Herald, recalling how he felt at the end of India’s last tour Down Under about four years ago
Dravid then had equally bad tour against the Australia at home and against England but he was not dropped from the side and finally he succeeded in regaining his touch.
The prolific scorer said he drew inspiration for his revival from Tendulkar, who himself had fought off the trying times with grit.
“He went through a tough period and he came out of that. That was an inspiration to me. Being in the same dressing room as him, he was having a golden run while I was going through one of my worst times.
“You think if he can do it – admittedly, he is a much better player, a greater player – but he didn’t stress himself about outside stuff, he didn’t answer too many questions about retirement, he just got on with the business of scoring runs …” (PTI)