Rahul Dravid asks players to be vigilant regarding match-fixing

Rahul Dravid

Although no spot fixing or match fixing cases have emerged in this season of the IPL so far, Rajasthan Royals’ mentor, Rahul Dravid stated that players need to be alert at all times.

“It’s good that no such incident (match fixing) has surfaced this time. But, we (players and teams) all need to be vigilant and keep our eyes and ears open, because, there will be people who will be wanting to spoil the game,” said Dravid, who is also known as the ‘Wall of Cricket’. 

The previous edition of IPL was ruined by cases of spot fixing that involved players like S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan. Dravid, RR skipper Shane Watson and coach Paddy Upton attended a press conference in Ahmedabad which has been declared the home ground for RR this season. 

When asked about the crowd’s support that RR is anticipating to receive from Ahmedabad, Dravid said: “Ahmedabad has always proved lucky for RR in the past. We are having a good record here and fans here are equally passionate for the game. I am sure that local fans will see RR as their own team, as Ahmedabad doesn’t have their own team in IPL. I hope that fans will support us in upcoming games.”

The 41-year-old Dravid was all praises for Pravin Tambe, whose hat-trick was helpful in the victory of RR against KKR in the last match.

“He has been playing cricket for almost 20 years, yet you can see how humble and hard working he still is. He represents thousands of talented boys across India,” he said.

On the other hand, Shane Watson expressed his happiness of working with someone as great as Rahul Dravid.

“I loved it when I was given the opportunity to become the captain. I am learning from some of the best players of the game like Rahul, who knows how to get best out of every player,” said the Australian cricketer Watson. 

“The best thing about our team is that we don’t have many coaches, like one for batting, one for fielding, one for bowling, etc,” he added.

“We play without having fear of failure. Another factor is that our owners don’t put pressure on us. We created an environment for young players to play good cricket,” Upton said.