Dominica: Virat Kohli was only taking his first strides in Test cricket when India played here last in 2011, but Rahul Dravid, then a towering figure in the squad, knew he was a “special talent” set for a long and successful career.
In a video shared by the BCCI ahead of the opening Test of the two-match series, both Dravid, now the team’s head coach, and senior batter Kohli reminisced about the game that took place more than two decades ago.
“When I came 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,” Dravid said.
“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,” Dravid added.
Kohli recently took to Twitter to share a picture of himself with Dravid and expressed his gratitude for the reunion after 12 years.
Dravid said, “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).”
Kohli said he is blessed to be one of the two survivors from that squad of 2011 and said he could never imagine that he would be back where it all started form him in the game’s traditional format.
“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 (Dravid’s) 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.”
The batting maestro said life has come a full circle for both.
“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,” Kohli said.
PTI