Rahul Dravid Birthday: An email from Rahul Dravid changed the fate of this player, scored 68 centuries in his career

Former captain of Team India, former coach and one of the most successful batsmen in cricket history, Rahul Dravid not only performed brilliantly on the field himself, but also helped many players with his knowledge and advice. In his long career, Dravid not only scored many centuries himself, but also helped others to reach heights. Not only Indian players, but Dravid also explained to foreign players in the same way. Let us tell you about one such email of Dravid, who is turning 52 on January 11, which changed the fortunes of England's legendary player Kevin Pietersen.

Born on 11 January 1973 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, Rahul Dravid achieved many milestones of success in his 17-year-long international career. Especially in Test cricket, there were very few batsmen in that era who were equal to or better than Rahul Dravid. In such a situation, there could hardly be anyone better than him to take the necessary tips to learn batting in the Test format. Many young players who have joined Team India in the last few years can confirm that Dravid is no less than anyone in terms of teaching. Not only Indian players, but Peterson has also been a witness to this.

Dravid's email changed Pietersen's life

Pietersen had revealed in his autobiography a few years ago that before the 2012 tour of India, he had sought help from Dravid and the Indian legend had given him such tips in just one email that changed his life. Pietersen had also mentioned this in an interview and said that Dravid had written him the sweetest email and told him how to face spin. Pietersen had said, "He explained to me the art of playing spin and since then my world had changed. The most important point was to understand the length when the ball leaves the hand - to wait till the spinner takes a decision."

Apart from this, Dravid also taught him the way to play sweep shot and improve the technique of front foot defense. This was the time when Pietersen was scoring a lot of runs in Test cricket but he was failing against spin in Asian conditions. He was in a bad shape against spin in Bangladesh. But Dravid's advice benefited him tremendously and Pietersen scored a lot of runs on the India tour, which also included a memorable innings of 186 runs played in the Mumbai Test. Pietersen scored 338 runs in 7 innings of the series and played an important role in helping England win the series. Kevin Pietersen scored 68 centuries in his entire career (domestic-international), in many of which Dravid's advice also helped him.

Rahul Dravid's brilliant career

As far as Dravid's career is concerned, this legendary batsman made his Test debut against England at Lord's in 1996. Dravid, however, missed a century in his very first Test and was dismissed after scoring 96 runs. But after this he scored many centuries in his long career. Before retiring in 2012, Dravid played 164 Test matches and scored 13288 runs, including 36 centuries and 63 half-centuries. Apart from this, he also scored 10889 runs in 344 ODIs, including 12 centuries. Dravid could never win the World Cup as a player, but in 2024, as head coach, he made Team India the T20 World Champion.