Privileged to work with my idol Rahul Dravid: Brathwaite

Hero of West Indies' World Twenty20 title triumph, Carlos Brathwaite today said that he is privileged to share the dressing room with his idol Rahul Dravid, the mentor of Delhi Daredevils in this season of IPL.
"I find myself privileged enough to be working along with someone I have idolised all my career and that is Rahul Dravid. We had a couple of chats and it is good to hear from him as a person and as a player on what are the areas that I would look to improve on in terms of playing spin and I spoke to Rahul about," Brathwaite said on the eve of Delhi Daredevils IPL opener against Kolkata Knight Riders here.

The 27-year-old said he hoped to return home as a better player.
"I hope that at the end of six weeks I go back to the West Indies with better understanding of how to play spin bowling, how to rotate it, how to score off it and how to take that knowledge from the IPL back to the West Indies," he said.
The same strip where he had hit four sixes on a row to win the WT20 would be on offer for the match here tomorrow but Brathwaite said it's a different proposition.
"If you look at it as a psychological advantage then it can be a disadvantage as well since it is the same ground and same fans but at the same time is a completely different tournament, different game and a different team with different set of oppositions that deserve respect. We need to react to what is done on the day as opposed to try and live in the past and hoping it happens again," he insisted.

He said it was up to the Delhi Daredevils think-tank to give him a suitable role in the team.

"It is something that the Delhi Daredevils require of me and which I would want to do for them. I would want to come on top and if that requires me hitting one six or doing it by singles, I am prepared to do that for the franchise.
"I honestly believe you always have something to prove. If you are the defending champions, then next year you have to prove that it wasn't a fluke. If you weren't doing well before, then you have to prove that you are good enough to be here. I don't want to say that we will take the past and use it as strength but together as a team we are aware that we didn't have a good recent past.

Attributing his success to his big-hitting teammates -- Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo -- Brathwaite said: "Just being able to watch those guys train and prepare and the way they pick themselves up from bad performance and enjoy the good performances was a lesson for me. It was a pleasure to be in their presence and I just hope that I can take what I learn and match it with what I know already.
"More importantly you need to use that to good effect to be successful for the Delhi Daredevils and then to influence the youngsters inside the Delhi dressing room."

Delhi Daredevils had surprised many by spending Rs 4.2 crore on a relatively unknown Brathwaite during the IPL auctions but after his slugfest in the World Twenty20, he seems to be their most prized buy.
"I am privileged enough to come into the team as a World Cup winner and be able to take some lessons. I hope I impact a youngster in the dressing room," a modest Brathwaite said.
With series of interviews lined-up after his WT20 exploits, Brathwaite said he is learning to deal with the stardom.
"It has been a bit of a challenge in terms of constant interviews and reliving the four sixes each and every day. So it has been a challenge to get off the hype that I have been on. In the last couple of days we have been training to get distractions out of the way and train hard with the Delhi Daredevils teammates to be in the mental space and capacity to give 100 per cent on the field.

"I would be honest and say that it has been a bit of a challenge. I had time management problems to begin with, making sure that I did all the interviews and commitments. It has been a challenge but now I am aware of the challenges that this new stardom has brought me and it is something that I look forward to if I continue to be successful and it is something that I need to cope with. Hopefully, it will get better in the near future," said the West Indian cricketer.
On the number of interviews he has obliged after his WT20 show, he said: "I cannot count, but for the stage that it happened on, everyone wanted to know what was going through my mind and what I was thinking at that point of time and how I did it. I am just trying to facilitate as much people as possible. Hope I didn't miss anyone. I just tried to do as much as I could within the time frame.