28 Aug 2025 : Rahul Dravid, one of the finest Indian cricket personalities of all time, reminisced about his time as an active cricketer, saying he wanted to earn the respect of his teammates. Dravid, the former India captain, who was part of the fabled Fab Four of Indian cricketers featuring Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly, pointed out that although he never wanted to copy his contemporaries, the Wall was driven to make his own way, carve out his path to ensure the individuals inside the dressing room appreciated and acknowledged what he was doing.
Dravid’s admission stemmed from looking at a photo of himself and Laxman from that immortal partnership against Australia at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens in 2001. With India battling a follow-on, Dravid and Laxman dug in en route to adding 376 runs for the fifth wicket – adding one entire day – setting the tone for the team’s famous 171-run win over the mighty Aussies. The victory, which halted Australia’s famous winning streak at 16 Tests, is credited with sparking a new era in Indian cricket. Dravid’s 180 was equally important as Laxman’s 281 because he was pushed down to No. 6 from his ideal No. 3 position. When Dravid walked out, he had a point to prove. And boy, he did that in some style.
Rahul Dravid wanted to earn Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly’s respect
“I don’t think I was copying them, but certainly learning things from them as well, not only Laxman. It made my game a better game, sharing the dressing room and partnerships of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, VVS and even Gautam Gambhir for a while. You are learning from these guys, watching them prepare, play certain shots and how they go about doing certain things. And you are picking up stuff. You are being challenged and pushed by them,” Dravid said on the Haal Chaal Aur Sawaal Podcast with Ashish Kaushik.
“You want to learn Tendulkar, Laxman and Ganguly’s respect. You want them to say ‘ok, this guy can also play. He deserves to be in this room with me’. You want to earn that, and that comes with performance and doing things. That comes with putting run on the boards and playing in difficult conditions or situations. So that in itself was a motivation. So you pick all of this up from them. And then they understand your game. You have conversations. You are chatting with these guys. So there is no doubt that all of them made me a better player, helped me achieve my potential, and I hope I did a little bit of that for them as well.”
Having said that, Dravid mentioned how individuals in that dressing room were highly competitive with each other. And that’s the thing about a healthy team environment. When there’s no malice, yet to achieve a common team goal, individual performances matter and need to be upped. An entire decade, from 1998 to 2008, was full of players trying to drive motivation from each other and put on a better show than yesterday.
Summary:
Rahul Dravid revealed he learnt from Gautam Gambhir for a while and was challenged by Tendulkar, Laxman, and Ganguly, shaping his cricketing journey and resilience.