Rahul Dravid refused Rs 2.5 crore extra, wants equal reward

The 'gentleman' Rahul Dravid has given another fine example of his character, deciding to let go of half of the INR 5 crore prize money that he was to get from the pool of Rs. 125 crore that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced for the T20 World Cup-winning Indian team.

Dravid took the call to ensure all the members of the support staff of the senior men's team were rewarded with equal bonus prizes. The BCCI announced Rs 125 crore prize money for Team India members, including the players and the support staff. While the players and Rahul Dravid were awarded Rs 5 crore each, the other members of the support staff, including batting coach Vikram Rathour, bowling coach Paras Mhambrey, and fielding coach T Dilip were slated to receive Rs 2.5 crore as bonus. Rahul Dravid told the board that he would only take Rs 2.5 crore as a bonus.

Dravid asked the board to reduce his cash reward to Rs. 2.5 crore too as he didn't want to get more money in comparison to the batting, bowling, and fielding coaches. "Rahul wanted the same bonus money (Rs. 2.5 crore) as the rest of his support staff. We respect his sentiments," a BCCI source said, as per the report.

What's to be noted is that Dravid had taken a similar stance as the head coach of India's winning U-19 World Cup team of 2018. At that time, Dravid was to get INR 50 lakh while the other members of the support staff were to get Rs. 20 lakh each. The players were to earn Rs. 30 lakh each, as per the formula. Dravid refused such a bifurcation, forcing the BCCI to change the distribution percentage and reward everyone equally.

The board then issued a revised list of cash awards that saw every member of the support staff earn INR 25 lakh, including Dravid.