Irfan Pathan reveals what Rahul Dravid suggested after India’s 2007 World Cup exit: Let’s go for a movie

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan revealed that ex-captain Rahul Dravid took him and teammate MS Dhoni out for a movie after their 2007 World Cup exit in the West Indies.

Pathan described how Dravid, who was the Indian captain during the time, dealt with the heartbreak of exiting the showpiece event in the Caribbean.

India lost against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in their group matches to crash out of the tournament in the Caribbean.

“What Rahul brings in is clear communication. Even when he was the leader of Indian cricket team at that time also, he was very clear with any youngster. If anyone had any kind of problem, they can go up to him and just talk about it freely.

“I remember a very small incident from the 2007 World Cup in West Indies. He came to me and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He said, ‘Look we are all upset. Let’s go for a movie’.

“We went to watch the movie and then he said, ‘look, yes we lost the World Cup. We all wanted to make a big difference. But this is not end of it. Life is much bigger. We will come back tomorrow’. That’s the kind of character he is.

“He is always looking to put cricketers in a positive frame of mind. So, if someone unfortunately goes out of form in Sri Lankaif that happens, he will be the first one to guide him and give confidence,” Pathan said.

Snapshots from #TeamIndia‘s first training session in Sri Lanka #SLvIND pic.twitter.com/hzBx8DNye2

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Dravid will be guiding the Indian white-ball teams as a coach in the absence of regular coach Ravi Shastri, who is in England with the Indian Test side being led by Virat Kohli. Opener Shikhar Dhawan will lead India while Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be his deputy in Sri Lanka.