'Virender Sehwag found it much easier to switch off'- Rahul Dravid on how both batters had different approach to cricket

Rahul Dravid is often regarded as one of the most technically correct batters of all time. His technique is still taught as a starting point for young cricketers. Having made more than 10,000 runs in both Tests (13,288) and ODIs (10,889), Dravid’s wicket was arguably the toughest to take.

In a recent podcast with Olympic gold winner Abhinav Bindra, the Indian head coach revealed how he managed his energy in his playing career.

"If I look back on my career, that..managing my energy, more of my mental energy was the real game-changer in terms of longevity in my career and in terms of performance. I used to expend a lot of energy, even when I was not playing, thinking about my game, maybe reflecting on it, worrying about it. In time I kind of learned that was not necessarily actually not helping my sport or helping me play better. I needed to refresh and almost find a life outside of cricket," Dravid said in the podcast.

Rahul Dravid said that switching off after the game was equally important as other aspects of the game. He also talked about Virender Sehwag who used to find it a bit easier to switch off from the game. The current Indian coach, on the other hand, had to learn its importance gradually.

"I was still always never going to be like Viru, like Virender Sehwag, who found it much easier to switch off because of his personality outside of the game. I was never going to get to that level. But certainly, I started recognising the red flags. I knew I needed to find a way to switch it off but it was the mental side of the thing that you need to help yourself."

"It came down to you recognising that this was as important to you as those extra hours in the gym and practice sessions. If you did all of that but were unable to switch off mentally, you are not gonna have enough energy to play the game. Once I start recognising that three or four years in my career, I started to make an effort to switch off a lot more and it helped me a lot", added Rahul Dravid.