U 19 World Cup: For pep talk, Dravid turns to King Khan

The India U-19 team have been unbeaten in the tournament so far. (Source: ICC)

One of the most eloquent voices in cricket, Rahul Dravid, the Indian colts’ coach, is perfectly capable of giving a stirring presentation. On the eve of their Under-19 World Cup final, then, you would expect him to deliver a speech of the kind Alexander the Great delivered on the banks of the Beas, exhorting his men to soldier on for one final battle. Or say something of the sort Aragorn said at the Black Gate. On Saturday, the boys indeed were given a motivational speech, but it was by Shah Rukh Khan.

In the one final team meeting, Dravid chose to play SRK’s “Yeh sattar minute” from the movie ‘Chak De! India’. In the scene, Khan, who is playing a hockey coach, urges his team before the final to go out play for the love of playing the game, and not for the result. For whatever happens in the match, he says, no one can snatch those 70 minutes from your life.

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After the speech was over, Dravid, while asking them to give their all on Sunday, underplayed the importance of winning or losing. He said he would be happier if they went on to play Test cricket for India and score a century or take a five-wicket haul at Lord’s. Before the semifinal against Sri Lanka, Dravid had shown the boys a montage of their highs in the World Cup.

Earlier, India had a rigorous practice session with the sun beating down at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium on Saturday. If the nets were any indication, there wasn’t going to be any change in the Playing XI for the final. After the session was concluded, Ishan Kishan and Shimron Hetmyer had a photoshoot with the trophy. Some players — such as Rishabh Pant — looked tensed, while Zeeshan Ansari, who is unlikely to play, and Arman Jaffer were having fun together, at the expense of Pant. Ishan was in a reflective mood, likening tomorrow’s match with the final Board exam. “We have reached our goal following a certain plan, and now it is about following that plan again. That’s most important. We will play the way we have been playing. Exams ka final hai to thoda achha marks aa jaaye to achha rahega,” he said.Later, Dravid took the boys out for lunch.

Meanwhile, the West Indies hit the nets in the afternoon session. Their players looked relaxed and hardly overawed by the occasion. “There’s no pressure because nobody expected us to be here playing the final. The boys have got nothing to lose, that’s why they are relaxed,” said team’s manager Dwain Gill.

They fired themselves up for the big occasion by tuning in to will.i.am’s “Hall of Fame” song on YouTube. “It just teaches you that if you train and work hard, you will be sitting in the hall of fame,” said Keemo Paul.