'We were little scared of him,' says Prithvi Shaw on his experience of working with Rahul Dravid in U-19 World CupMany players in the current Indian cricket team and on the fringe have played under the mentorship of former Indian batsman Rahul Dravid either in the age group cricket or the India A tours. One of them is the winning Indian Under-19 2018 team's captain Prithvi Shaw, who has time and again admitted that Rahul Dravid has been a big influence on his game.

Rahul Dravid was then the coach of both the U-19 setup and the India A team and under Shaw's captaincy and his leadership, Indian won their fourth U-19 title in history by beating Australia in the final.

Since, then Shaw has gone on to play for the senior Indian team, broke records in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and has formed an outstanding opening partnership with Shikhar Dhawan at the top of the order for the Delhi Capitals.

Speaking to Cricbuzz, Shaw talked about Dravid's role in the growth of the youngsters and his process of coaching. “We toured together with sir (Dravid) before world cup (U-19) also. He never forced any player to be like him. He didn’t change anything in batting. Told me to stick to my natural game. He knew if I play the Powerplay overs, then it’s difficult to get me out,” Shaw said.

“He mostly talked about the mental aspect, tactics and how to approach a game. He never spoke much – just during meetings. Wanted us to enjoy the game. If we are repeating mistakes then on;y he’ll come and tell you about it,” he added.

Shaw also mentioned that the youngsters were a little scared of the legendary batsman but his off-the-field persona was completely different and he was quite friendly with them.

“With Rahul sir you have to be disciplined. We were a little scared of him. Off the field, he was quite friendly with us, used to join us for dinner, Sitting with a legend like him was a dream come true. Every youngster dreams of that,” he said.

“I am sure he’s also gone through the phases of U-19 cricket. So he knew exactly what to get in from us during the tour. Used to speak with each player specifically,” he added.

With Dravid set to coach the Indian team on the Sri Lankan tour, many youngsters will get to pick the brains of one of the greats of Indian cricket.

Source : DNA India