“I was sleeping, he waited for two hours for me to wake up” - Shoaib Malik narrates wholesome anecdote about Indian legend
Veteran Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik recently narrated a heartwarming anecdote about current Indian coach Rahul Dravid, while praising his selfless attitude. Malik revealed that Dravid waited for two hours for him to wake up on a flight as the Indian legend wanted to discuss how the Pakistan all-rounder made so many comebacks.
India are currently on top of the 2023 World Cup points table, with six wins from as many matches. They are the only undefeated side in the competition so far.
During a discussion on Pakistan’s A Sports channel, Malik praised Dravid’s unselfish approach and opined that his presence as coach has contributed to India’s success. Sharing an interesting tale from Dravid’s days as India U-19 coach, Malik recalled:
"We were travelling from Pakistan to New Zealand. At the same time (on the same flight), the Indian under-19 team was travelling. Rahul Dravid was the under-19 coach then. I was sleeping, and he waited for two hours for me to wake up because he wanted to speak to me. He wanted to ask me 'you have made so many comebacks, what motivates you?'. He said, 'I am coaching the under-19 team, so I want to tell them what's the psyche behind this'."
"So what I am trying to say through this is that he has no ego. He wanted to learn what you go through (while trying to make a comeback). In his own career he has seen lots of ups and downs. So he asked me and I told him. I liked that a lot. The learning process never ends and look where the Indian team is standing today (under Rahul Dravid)," the 41-year-old went on to add.
Dravid is widely considered one of the greatest batters the game has ever produced. He played 164 Tests and 344 ODIs, scoring 13288 and 10889 runs respectively.
A closer look at Team India’s amazing run in 2023 World Cup
India went into the 2023 World Cup as one of the favorites, and they have lived up to the billing so far. They have won all of their six matches and have a net run rate of +1.405.
The Men in Blue began their 2023 World Cup campaign with a six-wicket win over Australia in Chennai. In the subsequent matches, they beat Afghanistan by eight wickets and Pakistan and Bangladesh by seven wickets each.
India faced a bigger challenge against New Zealand, a team they had not defeated in any ICC event since 2003. They broke the jinx by registering a four-wicket win in Dharamsala. In their last match in Lucknow, they hammered England by 100 runs.