Who is India U-19 Cricketer Samit Dravid?

There’s a new Dravid in Indian cricket team.

Samit, son of legendary batter Rahul Dravid, has been given his first India U-19 call-up and will represent the junior team in a multi-format series against Australia next month.

Samit, an 18-year-old pace-bowling all-rounder, is currently playing for Mysore Warriors in the ongoing KSCA Maharaja T20 trophy in Bengaluru.

However, his outings so far have been underwhelming with the bat – 82 runs from seven innings with a highest of 33, and he is yet to bowl in the tournament.

But earlier this year, Samit had a productive time in the Cooch Behar Trophy, playing an important role in Karnataka’s maiden title triumph in the event.

The 18-year-old made 362 runs from eight matches and his 98 against Jammu and Kashmir stood out for its quality and fluency. Samit also had a memorable tournament with the ball, where he claimed 16 scalps in eight matches, including two in the final against Mumbai.

Rahul Dravid is currently enjoying a deserving break after ending his tenure as India head coach that concluded with him guiding the team to title win at the 2024 T20 World Cup. The 51-year-old had never won a world cup as a player and came close to winning the title once in 2003 when India made it to the final in South Africa but finished runners-up.

Under his guidance, India made it to the final of the ICC World Test Championship in 2023 and a few months later, stormed into the ODI World Cup title clash but on both the occasions, they had to remain content with the runners-up medal.

Rahul Dravid is widely regarded as one of the finest batters to have played the game. He represented India in 164 Tests, 344 ODIs and one T20I between 1996 and 2011 and scored a whopping 24208 runs across formats.

He struck 48 centuries and 146 half-centuries during his storied India career.