Success is being the best you can be: Rahul Dravid

In July 2019, BCCI appointed Rahul Dravid as director of the National Cricket Academy and who better than the Gentleman of Cricket to mentor budding cricketers.

Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, the former India and RCB captain spoke about the most important aspect that a cricketer needs to do.

"Success is being the best you can be. For me that's it. Personally, at least, at the end of the day success is not about a lot of runs or wickets or things like that. If you are able to sit back and [look back] on your career and say, 'Hey, I gave it my best shot, I tried my very best'... Sometimes you might play a lot of cricket, sometimes you play less cricket. Or whatever it is that you do in life. And you need a bit of luck as well for things to fall in place. You can't escape that.”

"You can't compare yourself with other people - at the end of the day it's your journey, so just be the best that you can be.”

In his illustrious international career of 16 years, Rahul Dravid has played 164 Tests, 344 ODIs and 1 T20I accumulated 24,208 runs which include 48 centuries and 146 half-centuries.

"In cricket, you fail a lot more than you succeed. In batting, in general, you fail a lot more. If you consider a fifty as a success point, you don't cross fifty in the majority of your innings, so you do learn to fail a lot in cricket, and a guy who has an average of 50 in international cricket has failed a lot more times than he has succeeded," he said.

"I certainly think that it can be developed and worked on, and it must be worked on if you want to be a successful cricketer - or successful at anything. The ability to be focused, stay in the moment, to play that one ball at a time is a very, very important skill.”

The 47-year-old opened up about his childhood where he used to be an introvert and was not hyperactive about things. The Karnataka-born cricketer suggests that the most important thing that one needs to do to have a successful career is to learn how to concentrate on bigger knocks and stay focused on the game by following simple routine practices.

"I must admit that I was a little bit lucky in that inherently my nature's such that I've had the ability to concentrate. I've not been that extroverted person; even growing up as a kid, I was a bit introverted, I wasn't one of those hyperactive kinds of kids, so I had that ability to stay calm and stay balanced. The Karnataka-born suggested that a batsman should not develop a laid back attitude after completing a milestone but instead go on and on to learn how to concentrate for bigger knocks.”

"Over the years, playing the game and watching other people play the game, you sort of realise that you got to be able to work on it and develop it and be able to have confidence in it under extreme pressure. It's one thing to be able to do it when you're sitting down or lying down in the comfort of an air-conditioned room, but being able to trust it and execute it under pressure when the heat is on in the middle of a game, [when] you're facing expectations and a really challenging spell of bowling, to be able to switch back on and keep that focus and do those simple routines requires practice.”

Creating one’s own opportunity is something that the NCA director firmly believes in. The most important message Dravid shares is that one shouldn't throw away the chance, but needs to dedicate a little time and effort that will help you in the long run.

"It's something that over the years I kind of learnt at the nets, dedicating a bit of time to do it in the nets. Someone gave me very good advice as a youngster: the best way to be able to concentrate or bat for a long time is to do it whenever you have the opportunity in the middle. So don't throw your opportunity away when you are in the middle, [thinking] 'Oh I've got a hundred, I've got a big score now, I'm set for the next few games and I don't need to worry about them'. Instead, use it as a good opportunity to learn how to concentrate or bat for long periods of time. That's something that'll help you as you go on," Rahul Dravid said.

[With ESPNCricinfo inputs]