From the Taj Mahal Palace to Sea Green Hotel. It’s been an interesting journey in the span of just days for former India skipper Rahul Dravid.
Former skipper has no qualms about staying in a budget hotel on Ranji duty
MUMBAI: From the Taj Mahal Palace to Sea Green Hotel. It’s been an interesting journey in the span of just days for former India skipper Rahul Dravid.
Currently in the city for a Ranji fixture, the cricketer who had the world at his feet has opted to stay at a three-star hotel at Marine Drive with his Karnataka teammates.
Room No 103 is a deluxe suite and has the best view of the vast expanse of the Arabian sea and is as airy as it can get. But a room at the Sea Green hotel, however cozy, can hardly match the standards in luxury most modern cricketers are used to.
It was just days ago that Dravid stayed in the same city in a five star hotel. Indian captains in the past have played Ranji engagements on the field but have made separate arrangements when it comes to hitting the pillow.
“Uska badapan hai [It’s his large-heartedness],” said one of the senior players of the team when DNA contacted him at the hotel. “It’s a great honour for us to stay with such a great man,” the player added. It is just not the players but the hotel staff as well who are in raptures. “Never in my tenure in the last few years in this hotel have we had a celebrity of this stature as our guest. We are very happy to have him here and we will do the best,” said S Joseph at the hotel reception.
Though the hotel is right on the sea front, it’s a modest establishment. Even taxi drivers struggle to place the hotel, which has been a regular haunt for cricket fans and journalists visiting Wankhede Stadium, just a stone’s throw away.
While Dravid may not carry any baggage from the past, Chintaman Mohite was happy to lift his luggage. The waiter said: “Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would serve ‘Sir’ Rahul Dravid. I will go out and tell all my folks. He even spoke to me in Marathi! I never thought that Dravid would speak so fluently.”
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