In a lively talk that engaged and entertained the guests in attendance, the former India coach and captain was at his wittiest best, even asking the audience to email him if they have career advice for him.
“The beauty of functions like this and the beauty of awards like this is that when they put up these videos, they show just the lovely things that you have done on the cricket field,” said Dravid, reflecting on his playing and coaching career. “The honest fact, and that is the truth, is that you are failing a lot more than you are succeeding in this game. But that’s what makes it so much more fun, so much more enjoyable.”
Dravid’s tenure as India coach ended after he guided the team to winning the T20 World Cup earlier this year, hosted jointly by the US and the West Indies.
After beating South Africa in a thrilling final that went down the wire before India won it by seven runs, Dravid, who is characteristically quiet and likes to work in the background, was seen high on emotions as the boys handed him the trophy.
“When you have moments like that, I try and avoid showing that to my children, thinking I’ve gone mad or something,” Dravid said with a smile.
“But I have been always telling the boys that we have got to maintain our balance, we’ve got to remain cool and not go up and down with the results. That’s been my constant message to the team.
“Thank god, that was my last game. Otherwise, after that they would have said ‘you are saying one thing but you are doing something else (smiles)’,” he joked.
The floor was then opened for the guests as the anchor asked the audience if they want to give a career advice to Dravid.
One voice said: “Indiranagar ka gunda,” referring to the advertisement that Dravid did some time ago, in which he shouts those words aggressively.
“That was so embarrassing to do for 30 seconds. I was like no way, I can’t do any form of acting…It was so difficult to do. So that’s not my skill. But yes, any career advice, I will send you my email, any thoughts, send to me,” said Dravid, as the guests burst into laughter.
Another voice from the audience said: “A biopic”.
The anchor then asked Dravid: “Who would play you in a biopic, Rahul?”
A witty Dravid replied: “It’s good enough money, I will play it,” leaving the crowd in splits.
During his coaching career with the senior Indian team, Dravid guided the boys to the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) final, the ODI World Cup as well as the T20 World Cup.
However, India lost the WTC and ODI World Cup finals to Australia but managed to bring home the T2O World Cup.