How Rahul Dravid earned the nickname ‘Jammy’ and other interesting trivia about this cricket maestro
Rahul Dravid is one of the most celebrated names in Indian and global cricket. The legendary test batsman, who led Team India towards some of its biggest victories celebrates his 49th birthday today, on January 11, just a year away from a different kind of a half century. Often referred to as the ‘The Great Wall of India’, Dravid has scored 13288 runs over the course of 164 Test matches, 10899 in 344 ODIs and mentored and coached several teams. His career achievements are well documented, but some interesting facts about his life still remains unrevealed to many. Read on to know more about the former Indian skipper.
Dravid has earned himself an amusing nickname: Jammy!
Everyone knows that Dravid is called The Great Wall of India. But, he also has a much more amusing nickname, Jammy. His father used to work for Kissan, the popular Indian company that used to produce jams. Whenever he would leave for cricket practice, Dravid’s mother used to hand him a jar of jam. So, his peers started calling him Jammy, a nickname that stuck with him since then.
Cricket was not his first sport
Although we are used to seeing him holding a cricket bat, Dravid used to hold a hockey stick before he switched to cricket. Yes, that’s right! Dravid played hockey prior to his entry into the world of cricket. In fact, he was quite serious about it and also represented his home state, Karnataka in junior state tournaments.
Dravid paid tribute to his wife in all the matches he played
Rahul Dravid always had number 19 on his jersey. When asked why he chose that specific number, he shared that it was a tribute to his wife, Vijeta Pendharkar, whose birth day is on 19th November.
He was the only non-Australian to receive this honour
The Sir Donald Bradman Oration is a prestigious event for the Australian cricket fraternity. Here, distinguished Australian cricketers receive the opportunity to reflect on Sir Bradman and his remarkable career as a cricketer. Rahul Dravid was the first and only non-Australian cricketer to have delivered a speech at this event on December 14, 2022 at the War Memorial in the Australian capital city of Canberra, New South Wales.