Sharad Dravid, father of former India captain Rahul Dravid, passed away at his residence on Wednesday evening. Dravid senior, 79, leaves his wife Pushpa and two sons, Rahul and Vijay.
Dravid senior had undergone a heart operation a few years ago and had been ailing for sometime now.
Sharad Dravid was a regular visitor at matches at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium and his interest in the game didn’t necessarily stem from his son being a famous cricketer. He was a league cricketer. Sharad’s elder brother played for Holkar along with C K Nayudu. Rahul, in fact, developed his interest in the game by accompanying his father during his playing days.
Later, when Rahul made his Team India debut, he would often come to watch him slug it out at “nets” at the KSCA “B” ground. There’s an interesting anecdote behind Rahul getting his nickname, “Jammy”. Dravid senior used to work in Kissan Jam factory and during his formative days, Rahul would carry a bottle of jam to eat with his bread. Noticing this, his teammates started calling him Jammy.
Karnataka State Cricket Association officials expressed their condolences to the grieving family.