Former India captain and current head coach Rahul Dravid has been going through a challenging period in his coaching stint with the team not delivering ideal results across formats. Besides inconsistency with team combinations, lack of fortune and rotten luck hopped on his back off the field as well when he made a silly blunder of not carrying cash with him in another country.
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A more or less similar incident had transpired in Leeds during the recently concluded Ashes 2023 when Australia wicket-keeper batter Alex Carey was accused of not paying the outstanding amount to a barber after having a haircut. However, contrary to Dravid’s case, Carey had become an unfortunate victim of a mistaken identity.
Rahul Dravid Once Couldn’t Pay For A Packet Of Chips In West Indies
The incident had taken place during India’s tour of West Indies last year. On his maiden tour of the Caribbean in the capacity of India head coach, it took just another packet of chips to have Dravid frustrated and absolutely livid for quite some time.
The details of the incident were disclosed on Twitter by a verified user from India around a week ago. As per the user, Dravid had tore open a packet of chips at a store in Saint Kitts and Nevis, where India had played the second and third T20Is.
As per the man, who was also present at the store at the time, Dravid’s payment card had failed to work and he had not carried any cash along with him. This person then offered him some cash as a noble gesture, but for some reason, Dravid had refused to accept it.
The employees at the store did not let him bring the cash from his hotel room and complete the payment later. Moreover, having not heard a surname as such before, he even had to spell the same letter by letter, thereby further intensifying his frustration. Finally, Dravid had to go all the way up five floors to his hotel room along with one of the store guys in order to fetch the required cash and make the payment!
I once offered Rahul Dravid some cash coz he tore open a chips packet and his card was not working, and the store people wouldn’t let him go. They made him spell his last name letter by letter. He was quite angry, refused my money, took the store guys to his hotel room to pay.…
— Gabbar (@GabbbarSingh) August 14, 2023
Rahul Dravid Draws Annual Salary Of INR 10 Crore As India Head Coach
Dravid was appointed as Indian men’s team’s head coach in November 2021. He was roped in at an annual salary of INR 10 crore which is the highest ever for any coach in the history of Indian cricket. Former India all-rounder Ravi Shastri, who had preceded Dravid at the post for two consecutive stints, reportedly earned to the tune of INR 8 crore per annum.
Dravid was also the head coach of India A and India Under-19 for a two-year period beginning 2016. Later, he was also appointed as the head of cricket at the National Cricket Academy in July 2019. While he used to reportedly draw INR 5 crore annually as India A and India U-19 coach, he was roped in at INR 7 crore as the NCA head.
So far, his year-and-a-half tenure as a head coach has been a disappointing one, to say the least. Noteworthy losses include a Test and ODI series in South Africa, fifth Test in England, Super Four exit in Asia Cup 2022, ICC T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final loss, ODI series in Bangladesh, World Test Championship 2021-23 final defeat, and most recently, a T20I series defeat against West Indies.
