Indian head coach Rahul Dravid celebrated his 50th birthday with the national team in Kolkata on Wednesday, 11 January. Dravid, one of the greatest cricketers the country has ever produced, is currently on a 3-match assignment with the team against Sri Lanka. The BCCI posted a video of the Indian team landing in Kolkata and then celebrating Dravid’s birthday at the team hotel.
India has reached Kolkata to play an ODI for the first time after a gap of more than 5 years. The Men in Blue lead the ODI series 1-0 and will hope to take an unassailable lead by winning the game at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The team started the World Cup year on a strong note with impressive outings for all batsmen in the top order, followed by a strong pace bowling performance at least till the 40th over of the first ODI.
Touchdown Kolkata 📍
special birthday celebration here for #TeamIndia Head coach Rahul Dravid 😃🎂#indvsl pic.twitter.com/FbLvxbYWuN
– BCCI (@BCCI) January 11, 2023
Indian cricketer Virat Kohli wished head coach Rahul Dravid on his 50th birthday. Dravid, also known as ‘The Wall’, was congratulated by other cricketers and thousands of fans for his tremendous ability to guard his wicket and get the team out of difficult situations during his illustrious career.
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Rahul Dravid was appointed as the head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team on November 03, 2021, and during his tenure, Kohli came out of his poor form and 1019-day century drought as he made his debut in the Asia Cup 2022. Had scored 71st century. Happy birthday Rahul bhai, best wishes.” Kohli posted on Instagram.
Eden Gardens itself has been a pleasant hunting ground for skipper Rohit Sharma, who missed out on a hundred in the first ODI. Rohit Sharma will be hoping to find form with big scores in the ODI World Cup to be played in the months of October and November.
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Team India is expected to remain unchanged but may look at the option of tweaking their batting order a bit. Fans have argued for Ishan Kishan in the batting order after his sensational double century against Bangladesh in the final match of the last series.
Cricket fraternity wished Rahul Dravid on his birthday like this:
5️⃣0️⃣9️⃣ Intl. match 👍
2️⃣4️⃣2️⃣0️⃣8️⃣ Intl. goes on 👌
4️⃣8️⃣ Intl. Centuries 💯Here’s wishing Rahul Dravid – East #TeamIndia India Captain & Current Head Coach (Men’s Team) – Happy Birthday 🎂 👏 pic.twitter.com/orViXUGWXN
– BCCI (@BCCI) January 11, 2023
Happy birthday Rahul Dravid sir 🎂
– Smriti Mandhana (@mandhana_smriti) January 11, 2023
Here’s wishing one of the sport’s greatest torchbearers, the first Royal Challenger and current head coach #TeamIndiaHappy birthday Rahul Dravid!#playbold pic.twitter.com/uRa0danPNL
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) January 11, 2023
happy birthday rahul dravid
wishing you the best.– Umesh Yadav (@y_umesh) January 11, 2023
Happy birthday Prerna ❤️. Rahul Dravid ❤️ pic.twitter.com/VDNR6DVxXl
– Midhun Thambi (@Jammy19Sharad) January 10, 2023
Happy Birthday to “The Great Wall”. One of the greats in the game.
Rahul Dravid 💙🇮🇳@BCCI @rajasthanroyals #happybirthdayrahuldravid pic.twitter.com/I591mcwKHH— Sunny Nayak (@itssunnynayak) January 10, 2023