Rahul Dravid, India’s new head coach, has always stood out from the crowd, and he did so again by awarding Rs 35,000 to Green Park’s groundstaff, managed by Shiv Kumar, for preparing a sports surface for the first Test against New Zealand. After an exciting fifth and final day of the opening Test here on Monday, Indian-born Ajaz Patel and Rachin Ravindra showed incredible perseverance in losing light and on a deteriorating pitch to resist India’s famed spinners and claw out a thrilling draw for New Zealand.
“We’d like to issue an official statement. Mr. Rahul Dravid has personally handed Rs 35,000 to our groundsmen “After the game, the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) made an announcement in the press box.
Dravid was recognised for playing the game fairly and squarely during his time, and things haven’t altered much in the intervening years. The suggestion was given as a thank you for not delivering an ill-prepared course where the divots would burst and the match would be over in three days.
It was a proper pitch, with batters like Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, Tom Latham, and Will Young scoring runs, while pacers Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson tormented India’s top-order, while the home team tweakers took 17 wickets.
Because of Dravid’s admiration, the pattern for future wickets will be sports wickets with a little bit of everything rather than something diabolical or flat. This rewards proper competition between bat and ball which leads to more definite results and less boring draws between the two teams.
