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Rahul Dravid (left) receiving standing ovation en route to accepting the award. (Screengrab)
Rahul Dravid was given lifetime achievement award for his contribution to Indian cricket as a player and a coach.
Several members of Indian cricket teams – men and women – were honoured at the at an awards ceremony in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Captain Rohit Sharma was adjudged the Men’s International Cricketer of the Year, courtesy of his exceptional leadership and sublime batting form.
Rahul Dravid, who was the head coach during the recent T20 World Cup triumph, was bestowed with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
When his name was announced, every person present at the event was up on their feet, giving a standing ovation to the Indian legend.
A clip of the moment is going viral on X (formerly Twitter), particularly the reaction of Rohit Sharma.
The Indian opener was looked evidently happy with Dravid getting recognised for his contributions to Indian cricket both as a player and a coach.
When the 51-year-old was on his way to the stage, Rohit was spotted clapping, with a proud smile on his face.
Among the audience was Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Shami, Sunil Gavaskar and they all appeared quite happy with chants of “Rahul…Rahul” echoing in the hall.
Gautam Gambhir succeeded Dravid at the helm following the historic T20 World Cup triumph in Barbados earlier in June. Rohit also announced his retirement from T20Is after winning his first ICC title as an Indian captain.
When the BCCI unveiled Gambhir as the new coach, Rohit shared a heartfelt note for Dravid on Instagram.
“Since my childhood days, I have looked up to you just like billions of others but I was lucky enough to get to work with you this closely. You are an absolute stalwart of this game but you left all of your accolades and achievements at the door and walked in as our coach and came on a level where we all felt comfortable enough to say just about anything to you,” he noted.
Rohit further shed light on Dravid’s “humility and his love for the game” of cricket.
“My wife refers to you as my work wife and I’m lucky to get to call you that too,” he added in the post, which also featured a treasured picture of the former colleagues posing with the T20 World Cup trophy.
Dravid was the captain of the Indian side when Rohit made his debut in 2007.