‘Dedo inko bindaas’- Ajinkya Rahane recalls Rahul Dravid’s heated exchange with Mitchell Johnson in IPL 2013

Rahul Dravid and Ajinkya Rahane played together for RR in the IPL.

Rahul Dravid is known to be the perfect gentleman on the cricket field. The former India captain played for the Men in Blue from 1996 to 2013. He played 164 tests, 344 ODIs, and one T20I.

Dravid made 13288 test runs, 10889 ODI runs, and 31 T20I runs with a total of 48 centuries to his name. Dravid also played in the Indian Premier League, captaining the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the inaugural IPL edition in 2008.

He then moved to the Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2011 and captained them till IPL 2013, until his retirement. Dravid then took coaching, first guiding the youth at the NCA, then the Indian U19 team, and moved to coaching the Indian team, with his tenure ending with India winning the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 title.

Ajinkya Rahane recalls Rahul Dravid sledging Mitchell Johnson during an IPL 2013 match

Ajinkya Rahane, Dravid’s former IPL colleague, revealed how, in an IPL 2013 encounter, the former India captain got into a heated argument with former Australia and Mumbai Indians (MI) pacer Mitchell Johnson and used a joke to calm his flaming elder.

Dravid opened the scoring with a superb off-drive boundary after playing out three successive dots. Johnson quickly turned to verbal exchanges with the Indian veteran, reinstating a heated exchange from their last encounter. With Dravid’s unusual reaction, the altercation quickly heated up between the two players.

In response to Johnson’s hostility, Dravid first used a slew of angry words before hitting a four in his subsequent over with his signature wristy flip. Then, shocking the audience, Dravid challenged Johnson to keep sledging while holding his palms to his ear.

“Opening with him at the Rajasthan Royals felt reassuring. I was settling into my role as an opener, and even in the fast-paced nature of T20 cricket, he carried himself with such calm. During so many partnerships we had in that period, I actually also saw the not-so-calm side of Rahul Bhai once when Mitchell Johnson had tried to say a few words to him! I jokingly told him in between the overs, ‘Rahul Bhai, aap dedo isko bindaas, let them see this side of yours,’ and he started laughing,” wrote Rahane in a LinkedIn post.

Rahane also recalled Rahul Dravid’s only T20I appearance for India, which came against England in 2011.

“I still smile thinking about it: Rahul Bhai hitting three sixes in that innings and enjoying his batting even after scoring tons of international runs. To share that moment with him was special, because it showed me that even legends are willing to step out of their comfort zones,” Rahane recounted in his post.

For more updates, follow Khel Now Cricket on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.