Fixing controversy: Players need to continue to be vigilant, says Dravid

Rajasthan Royals’ mentor Rahul Dravid although expressed happiness that no spot-fixing or match-fixing controversy has happened till now in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League, he said the players need to keep their eyes and ears open all the time. “It’s good that no such incident (match fixing) has surfaced this time. But, we (players and teams) all need to be vigilant and keep our eyes and ears open, because, there will be people who will be wanting to spoil the game,” said Dravid at a press conference in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. Last season of the IPL was marred by the controversy of spot-fixing, which saw the arrest of three Rajasthan Royals players – S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan. [caption id=“attachment_1512829” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Rajasthan Royals mentor Rahul Dravid with commentator Harsha Bhogle. BCCI[/caption] Dravid along with the Royals captain Shane Watson, chief coach Paddy Upton and some other team players addressed a press conference in Ahmedabad on Wednesday on the eve of Rajasthan’s match against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera. Since Jaipur is not given any IPL match this season, Ahmedabad has been declared as the home ground of Royals, and Dravid is hopeful of getting support of the locals here. “Ahmedabad has always proved lucky for RR in the past. We are having a good record here and fans here are equally passionate for the game. I am sure that local fans will see RR as their own team, as Ahmedabad doesn’t have their own team in IPL. I hope that fans will support us in upcoming games.” Lauding the superb bowling performance by the 42-year-old spinner Pravin Tambe, whose hat-trick against Kolkata Knight Riders helped Royals win their previous game, Dravid said he was the face of thousands of talented yet unknown players. “He has been playing cricket for almost 20 years, yet you can see how humble and hard working he still is. He represents thousands of talented boys across India,” Dravid said. Meanwhile, Watson thanked Dravid for being the mentor. “I loved it when I was given the opportunity to become the captain. I am learning from some of the best players of the game like Rahul, who knows how to get best out of every player,” said the skipper. “The best thing about our team is that we don’t have many coaches, like one for batting, one for fielding, one for bowling, etc,” Watson added. Coach Upton, who is high on confidence having won five out of seven games so far, said: “We play without having fear of failure. Another factor is that our owners don’t put pressure on us. We created an environment for young players to play good cricket.” PTI