'Dravid played under Sachin's shadow all his life, but impact was same'

During a chat show interview, Gambhir addresses the impact that former India captain and batsman Rahul Dravid had on the country's cricket

Rahul Dravid and Gautam Gambhir greet each other as they leave the pitch for lunch break during the fourth-day of the second Test match between New Zealand and India at the McLean Park in Napier on March 29, 2009. Pic/ AFP

Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir has shared his views and opinion around various players and topics over the past few weeks on a chat show. This time, Gambhir addresses the impact that former India captain and batsman Rahul Dravid had on the country's cricket.

Speaking exclusively on Star Sports show Cricket Connected, former India opener Gautam Gambhir said, "I made my one-day debut under Sourav Ganguly and my Test debut under Rahul Dravid. It is so unfortunate that we do not give Rahul Dravid enough credit for his captaincy. We only talk about Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni, now we talk about Virat Kohli, but Rahul Dravid has been a fabulous captain for India as well. Even his records, he’s probably the most under-rated cricketer and probably the most under-rated leader as well. We won in England, West Indies, we won some 14 or 15 games on the trot."

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Gautam Gambhir added, "If you look at Rahul Dravid as a cricketer, I think if you asked him to open the batting in Test cricket, he did, he batted at No. 3, he kept wickets for India, he batted as a finisher, he did everything what Indian cricket asked him or what a captain asked him to do and that is the kind of role models you want. For me, I think he has had a bigger impact. Sourav Ganguly has always had a bigger impact in white-ball cricket because of his flamboyance, but Rahul Dravid overall, in Indian cricket, had a much bigger impact that probably anyone. You can actually match his impact to someone like Sachin Tendulkar as well because he played under the shadows of Sachin Tendulkar all his life, but yes, impact wise, probably the same."

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