Coach Keki Tarapore reflects on pupil Rahul Dravid
To analyse Rahul Dravid's game, there is probably none better qualified than Keki Tarapore, his coach and greatest influence in his impressionable years
CricInfo
17-Dec-2015
To analyse Rahul Dravid's game, there is probably none better
qualified than Keki Tarapore, his coach and greatest influence in his
impressionable years. The 78-year-old Tarapore who, like Dravid, was
also born in Indore and attended the St. Joseph's Boys High School in
Bangalore is a former Ranji Trophy player himself. He made his debut
for Mysore against Madras at Bangalore in 1945 under the captaincy of
PE Palia.
Tarapore's foray into coaching began when he joined the Rajkumari
Sports Coaching Scheme in 1959 at the Brabourne Stadium in Bombay,
now known as the NIS (Netaji Institute of Sports). He was posted to
Jaipur for six months to coach the Rajasthan team and later shifted
back to Bangalore to work under the aegis of the Mysore Cricket
Association. From 1960 to 1991, Tarapore worked as coach to the Mysore
(later Karnataka) team.
From 1977 to 1991 he was also involved with the national camp
conducted by the BCCI every summer, first under Col. Hemu Adhikari as
chief coach, and for the last two years under Hanumant Singh. During
this period a number of future Indian stars like Kapil Dev, Ravi
Shastri, Kiran More, Shivlal Yadav, Roger Binny cut their teeth under
Tarapore's watchful eyes.
During his service to Karnataka, Tarapore was involved in the early
development of many exceptional players like EAS Prasanna, BS
Chandrasekhar, GR Viswanath, BP Patel, SMH Kirmani, Sadanand
Viswanath, Anil Kumble and of course Rahul Dravid. In 1991, he was
honoured with the Rajyotsava award for lifetime achievement in the
field of coaching, bestowed on him by the Chief Minister of Karnataka.
In this conversation with CricInfo, Tarapore makes a thoughtful
appraisal of the current Indian vice-captain (and future Indian
captain as he suggests).
When did Dravid first come to you and when did you first spot the
talent in him?
I first saw Rahul when he was a 11-year-old boy and a student of St.
Joseph's Boys High School. He attended a coaching camp conducted by
the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) at the M. Chinnaswamy
Stadium where I was the only coach. He was a boy with tremendous
determination and eager to learn the right technique for a batsman. He
first started to represent the state at the junior level. Once he
started playing Ranji Trophy for the state and consistently produced
runs, I could recognise that he had a chance to play for the country.
He was always very hardworking and consistent in the matches played at
the camp.
Was he always a batsman from the beginning or did he also bowl a bit
or keep wickets?
He came as a pure batsman, later on he took up a little bit of wicket
keeping and started bowling off breaks. That's why even now he keeps
wickets for the country in case of an emergency. As a fielder he is
quiet competent, especially in close positions which he has proven.
What were the specific areas in which you fine tuned his game?
From the beginning Rahul concentrated on the basics of the game. Even
now whenever he is not in form I advise him to go back to the basics.
The most important factor in his career has been that he was always
ready to learn and take proper advice and apply the same on the field.
What do you think are Dravid's strengths and weaknesses?
Rahul's main strength has been his sound defence and his weakness even
now sometimes has been his tendency to play too far across which has
cost him his wicket.
Do you agree that he does not have the ability to dominate the
bowling?
I don't agree with that. In some circumstances, for the sake of the
team he has scored fast but normally he plays the role of an
anchorman. When the side loses early wickets, Rahul's contribution has
been beneficial to the team.
How would you assess his leadership qualities? Do you think he is a
future captain of India?
I noticed in Rahul at a young age that he had a natural ability to
captain the side. Whenever he got the opportunity to lead he showed
good promise. Given the opportunity to lead the Indian team, I don't
think he will fail in his duty as captain.