Wary of Spot-Fixing, Rahul Dravid Urges Players to Stay Alert
Rahul Dravid was captain of the Rajasthan Royals when three of his players were arrested last year on charges of spot-fixing in the Indian Premier League and now as the team's mentor, the former India skipper wants all players and teams to be vigilant about people wanting to spoil the gentleman's game.
Rajasthan Royals' mentor Rahul Dravid is happy that the Indian Premier League 2014 has so far been devoid of last year's fixing controversy, but he still urged players to keep their eyes and ears open all the time. (Rajasthan Royals trying to recover after spot-fixing scandal)
"It's good that no such incident (match fixing) has surfaced this time. But, we (players and teams) all need to be vigilant and keep our eyes and ears open, because, there will be people who will be wanting to spoil the game," said Dravid at a press conference on Wednesday. (BCCI imposes life ban on S Sreesanth)
The last season of the IPL was marred by the controversy of spot-fixing, which saw three Rajasthan Royals players - S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan - arrested. Â
Dravid along with Royals captain Shane Watson, chief coach Paddy Upton and some other team players addressed the media on the eve of Rajasthan's match against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera.
Since Jaipur has not been given any IPL match this season, Ahmedabad has been declared the Royals' home ground, and Dravid is hopeful of getting support from the locals.
"Ahmedabad has always proved lucky for RR in the past. We have a good record here and fans here are equally passionate about the game. I am sure that local fans will see RR as their own team, as Ahmedabad doesn't have their own team in the IPL. I hope that fans will support us in the upcoming games."
Lauding the superb bowling performance by the 42-year-old spinner Pravin Tambe, whose hat-trick against Kolkata Knight Riders helped the Royals win their last game, Dravid said he was the face of thousands of talented yet unknown players.
"He has been playing cricket for almost 20 years, yet you can see how humble and hard working he still is. He represents thousands of talented boys across India," Dravid said. (Never think of age, have to compete to play in IPL, says Tambe)
Meanwhile, Watson thanked Dravid for being the mentor. "I loved it when I was given the opportunity to become captain. I am learning from some of the best players of the game like Rahul, who knows how to get best out of every player," said the skipper. "The best thing about our team is that we don't have many coaches, like one for batting, one for fielding, one for bowling, etc," Watson added.