"Tried Copying Rahul Dravid's Technique": Rishi Sunak To NDTV On Love For Cricket

Former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak revealed that Rahul Dravid was one of his favourite players while growing up and he even tried to copy the batting technique of the Indian cricket team legend. At the NDTV World Summit 2025, Sunak opened up about his love for cricket and admitted that while he supports England, he has a soft spot for India when it comes to cricket. Sunak added that he has developed a major passion for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League and expressed gratitude for having cricket 'in every part of his life'.

"I am obviously cheering for England but I have a soft spot for India, as you can imagine. That is why, I get my fix from RCB. That is my other passion as well as my home football team," Sunak said.

"My constituency in England is in Yorkshire which is probably the most cricket-mad part of the UK. I have been fortunate with that. There is cricket in every part of my life. One of my favourite players growing up was Rahul Dravid. I tried copying his brilliant technique. But Joe Root is currently the best English batsman and he has scored the most runs and he is a Yorkshire cricketer," he added.

Sunak was asked to choose between Jimmy Anderson and Jasprit Bumrah and although he described Bumrah as 'superb', he picked the England legendary pacer for his commitment as well as humility.

"I was very fortunate to recommend to His Majesty that Jimmy Anderson should be awarded a knighthood. Objectively, his career over the 20 years is genuinely inspiring. Not just his commitment and work ethic, his humility is quite extraordinary for a top-tier sportsman," he said.

"Bumrah is superb but Sir Jimmy Anderson will have to be my pick," he concluded.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team England Cricket Team Rahul Dravid NDTVWorldSummit2025News Cricket