IPL Games Have Atmosphere Similar To Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid Fixture, Says Rahul Dravid

Test great Rahul Dravid attended the marquee La Liga clash between FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid at the Camp Nou on Sunday. Dravid, who is also the brand ambassador of Indian Super League (ISL) champions Bengaluru FC, was presented with a customised Barcelona jersey on his visit to the historic venue. The former India cricketer, in an interview posted by the Catalan club on their official Facebook account, shared his experience about watching the match.

"It's incredible, it's a huge honour, it's one of the things I've always wanted to do - come to Camp Nou and watch a football match. To be here and experience the atmosphere, it's absolutely electric," Dravid said.

The 46-year-old was all praise for five-time Ballon d'Or holder Lionel Messi and said, it was fantastic to see his ball control.

"To be able to watch players like Messi and Suarez play live, it's fantastic for me and my family. Thanks to Barcelona FC for the hospitality, it's been excellent," Dravid said.

"He's an absolute genius. It's incredible to watch what he does and to watch him live... One thing to see with Messi is how fantastic he is with the ball but it is incredible to see how good he is without the ball and how he is able to find spaces. I don't think there's been a better player than him ever. It's fantastic to watch him live," the 46-year-old added.

Dravid was also of the opinion that though cricket in the top sport in India, football is also catching up with time.

"Cricket is a different game. We have great atmosphere and great crowd in the IPL and a lot of Test matches as well. Cricket is the No.1 sport in India but football is catching up very quickly. The ISL, the new league there since the last few years, Indian football is catching up but yeah, this was a lovely atmosphere to watch. Similar to some of the IPL games that we have," Dravid said.

Barcelona currently top the La Liga table and clear favourites to win the Spanish league with 73 points from 31 fixtures.

Topics mentioned in this article

Rahul Dravid Bengaluru FC Barcelona Atletico Madrid IPL 2019 Cricket