‘It’s much nicer to see you without…’ – Rahul Dravid recalls his rivalry with Allan Donald

India’s head coach Rahul Dravid recently opened up on his rivalry with South African pacer Allan Donald from his playing days. He called him an intimidating fast bowler who gave him a stiff challenge on the field. The former India captain said it was a relief to meet the current Bangladesh bowling coach off the field.

Men in Blue are in Bangladesh for the ODI and Test series. India lost the ODI series 2-1. However, in the third ODI, we witnessed the fastest ODI double century by Ishan Kishan and also Virat Kohli’s 72nd International century which helped him in surpassing the great Australian batter Ricky Ponting’s 71 International centuries when it comes to the most number of centuries in International Cricket. 

“He was a great bowler. An incredible bowler, probably one of the best I’ve ever played in my career. I must admit that when I see him now and meet him at the ground, I was telling him the other day that it’s much nicer to see you now like this without a ball in your hand. He was an intimidating fast bowler and a terrific fast bowler,” said Dravid while speaking to Sony Sports Network.

I’ve just got nothing but massive respect for Rahul: Allan Donald

Dravid further called it a privilege to play against the Proteas legend. He said, “I would love to catch up with him as well and talk a little bit about fast bowling and his learnings. He’s gone on to become a very successful coach. Just the privilege of sharing the field with him is phenomenal.”

Donald finally apologised to Dravid for his unacceptable behavior in the aforementioned ODI. The former speedster admitted that he crossed the limit while reserving special praise for the Indian batting legend. In a video shared by Sony Sports Network on their social media, he said:

“There was one ugly incident in Durban that I don’t wanna talk about. He (Rahul Dravid) and Sachin (Tendulkar) were smoking us to all parts. I overstepped the mark a little bit, but I’ve just got nothing but massive respect for Rahul. I would love to sit with Rahul and go out for dinner and say sorry again about what happened back then.”