Rahul Dravid knew exactly what to get from us during U-19 tours, points Prithvi Shaw

Under former Indian skipper and arguably one of India’s most tactical brains, Rahul Dravid, the Indian U-19 team was at the peak of international age-group cricket. Not only were India unbeaten in an entire World Cup (2018), they won their games in convincing fashion every time they stepped onto the field. In the final too, they notched up an impressive win over Australia by eight wickets with 11 overs remaining. 

"He used to talk to every guy specifically about what he wanted him to do, which was really interesting. For me, he just used to say, play your natural game but if the situation demands, you need to be there for the team. If the situation is asking you to do something different from your game, you have to do it for the team. I really found Rahul sir interesting in that way, a great human being as well," he added.

In addition, Shaw also mentioned that he never asked his players to change their attitude or temperament and insisted that he gave him full freedom to play his natural game in the powerplay. 

"It was exceptional. We had toured for about two years (before the 2018 under-19 World Cup) with Rahul sir. He knew that he was different from us but he never forced us to be like him. Temperament is important but he never asked me to change anything, he used to tell me to play my natural game because he knew that if I play the powerplay overs, it becomes difficult to dismiss me," Shaw concluded.