Virat Kohli and Rahul Dravid. (Photo Source: Twitter/imvkohli)
The forthcoming series between West Indies and India will be a special one for head coach Rahul Dravid and senior pro-Virat Kohli, as having played at the same venue in 2011 as teammates, the duo will be gearing up for the challenge in different roles this time. When India toured West Indies in 2011, Kohli made his Test debut while Dravid was one of the senior players on the side.
Now, 12 years down the line, Kohli has returned to the venue as a senior player while Dravid is associated with the team as the head coach. It will surely be a nostalgic feeling for the duo, as they are the only two members from the 2011 squad who have returned to the Caribbean shores for the two-match Test series.
In a video shared by the BCCI, the duo spoke in detail about the feeling while recalling the 2011 game as well.
Here’s what Rahul Dravid had to say:
“When I came back here in 2011, that was a very special occasion for this Island and for the ground here. To come back in a different capacity, to come here as a coach and bring a team here, Virat was the only one who was there when we came here in 2011. I remember it was Virat’s first Test series with the Indian team, he was this young kid who had done really well in One Day cricket and he was just finding his feet a little bit in Test cricket. But you could see there was a special talent out there and you could see that he was going to be around for a while.”
“How long you can never say so you can be very proud of his journey. I certainly never thought that I would coach and come here 10 years later, but it is nice to have seen his journey, see him grow from being a young player on that trip to now being a senior veteran. I shouldn’t call him a veteran, but a senior player on the trip. It is great to see his journey and I think of myself as someone who is a young coach starting a journey as well. So, the tables have turned a little bit (laughs).
Here’s what Virat Kohli said:
“When we went to the dressing room and when we went to practice, I kind of remembered my first series here as a Test player and this is the country where it all started, the Caribbean. It is just amazing to be able to come back here 12 years later having played more than 100 Test matches, I would never have imagined anything like this. I think his comment about being a youngster in his coaching career is quite a humble one because he has been coaching for a long period of time now. I was his teammate and he was a senior, established Test player who we all looked up to.”
“It is quite amazing actually I told Rahul bhai as well. I said I am sure you would have never imagined that 12 years later we will come back to the same venue and you would be head coach and I would have played more than 100 games. No one could have guessed that one. We are blessed that we are the only two members from the last trip, still here in different capacities but it is like life has come a full circle and the journeys have been quite amazing.”
2️⃣0️⃣1️⃣1️⃣ – Team members
2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣3️⃣ – Head Coach & Batter
12 years on Rahul Dravid & Virat Kohli reminisce some special Dominica memories 😊#TeamIndia #WIvIND