Datta gaekwad

Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi: The annals of cricket history have been rich with various father-son duos playing the sport, either at domestic or international level. In sports, though, talent outplays name and lineage, and their ability to excel at the highest level and handle pressure situations holds utmost importance.

Indian cricket has been witness to a lot of father-son duos: Sachin Tendulkar and Arjun Tendulkar, Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi and Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Lala Amarnath and Mohinder, Surinder, Rajinder Amarnath, Datta Gaekwad and Anshuman Gaekwad, Pankaj Roy and Pranab Roy, Vijay Manjrekar and Sanjay Manjrekar, Sunil Gavaskar and Rohan Gavaskar, Yograj Singh and Yuvraj Singh, Roger Binny and Stuart Binny, Vinoo and Ashok Mankad, and Hemant and Hrishikesh Kanitkar.

One such pairing which is on the verge of joining this illustrious list is of former India captain and coach Rahul Dravid, and his elder son Samit Dravid. On Saturday, a big step towards that direction was made when Samit, a right-handed middle-order batter who also bowls some overs of pace bowling, found himself in the India U19 squad to play three 50-over games and two four-day matches against the visiting Australia team in September-October at Puducherry and Chennai, respectively.