Former captain of Team India, former coach and one of the most successful batsmen in the history of cricket, Rahul Dravid not only performed brilliantly on the field but also helped many players with his knowledge and advice. In his long career, Dravid not only scored many centuries and runs, but also helped others to reach heights. Dravid explained not only the Indian players but also the foreign players in the same way. Let us tell you about one such email from Dravid, who is turning 52 on January 11, which changed the fate of England's legendary player Kevin Pietersen.

Born on January 11, 1973 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, Rahul Dravid achieved many milestones of success in his international career that lasted almost 17 years. Especially in Test cricket at that time, there were very few batsmen who were equal to or better than Rahul Dravid. In such a situation, hardly anyone could have been better than him to get the necessary tips to learn batting in the Test format. Many young players who have come to Team India in the last few years can attest to the fact that Dravid is no less than anyone in terms of teaching. Not only Indian players, but Pietersen has also been a witness to this.

Dravid's email changed Pietersen's life

Pietersen had revealed in his autobiography a few years ago that before the 2012 India tour, he had sought help from Dravid and the Indian legend had given him such tips with just one email, which had changed his life. Pietersen had also mentioned this in an interview and said that Dravid had written him the sweetest email and told him how to face spin. Pietersen had said, “He explained to me the art of playing spin and since then my world had changed. The most important point was to understand the length when the ball left the hand – to wait until the spinner took a decision.”

Apart from this, Dravid also explained to him how to play sweep shot and how to improve the technique of front foot defence. This was the time when Pietersen was scoring a lot of runs in Test cricket but he was failing against spin in Asian conditions. He had a bad time against spin in Bangladesh. But he benefited greatly from Dravid's advice and Pietersen scored a ton of runs on the India tour, which included a memorable inning of 186 runs in the Mumbai Test. Pietersen had scored 338 runs in 7 innings of the series and played an important role in England winning the series. Kevin Pietersen scored 68 centuries in his entire career (domestic-international), in many of which Dravid's advice also helped him.

Rahul Dravid's brilliant career

As far as Dravid's career is concerned, this legendary batsman made his Test debut against England at Lord's in 1996. However, Dravid missed a century in his very first Test and was out after scoring 96 runs. But after this he scored many centuries in his long career. Before retirement in 2012, Dravid played 164 Test matches and scored 13288 runs, which included 36 centuries and 63 half-centuries. Apart from this, he also scored 10889 runs in 344 ODIs, in which he also scored 12 centuries. Dravid could never win the World Cup as a player, but in 2024, as the head coach, he made Team India the T20 World Champion.