Sehwag and Dravid Are Back in Indian Blue — 14 Years After Adelaide

On Wednesday evening, the BCCI announced India's Under-19 squads for the upcoming home series against Australia. It was a routine selection release — captain named, squad listed, tour dates confirmed. Then people read the names. Aaryavir Sehwag. Anvay Dravid. Both in the one-day squad. Both heading to Rajkot in September.

Within hours, the story was everywhere. Ten-plus outlets ran it. "Sehwag and Dravid back in Indian blue" was the headline that wrote itself. And for once, the hype is justified — not because of who their fathers are, but because of what these two have already done with a bat in their hands. This is not a nostalgia exercise. These are genuine cricketers who happen to carry surnames that weigh more than most.

The 4th Test between Australia and India at Adelaide Oval in January 2012 was the last time Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid played in the same team. India lost the series 4-0. Dravid retired from international cricket two months later, and Sehwag's career wound down shortly after. They had shared 62 Tests together, scored thousands of runs in partnership, and represented two diametrically opposed philosophies of batsmanship — Sehwag the destroyer, Dravid the wall.

Fourteen years later, their sons will walk out at the SCA Stadium in Rajkot wearing India U-19 colours. Same badge, different generation. The symmetry is almost too neat for fiction.

Aaryavir Sehwag is 18 years old, right-handed, and hits the ball like someone who grew up watching his father clear long-on from the crease. His 297 against Meghalaya in the Cooch Behar Trophy was the highest individual score of that edition — 309 balls, 51 fours, three sixes, a strike rate of 96. He opened the innings, built a mammoth foundation with Arnav Bugga, and fell three runs short of what would have been a landmark triple century.

The three-run miss mattered in the Sehwag household. Back in 2015, Virender Sehwag had promised both his sons a Ferrari if they scored a triple hundred. When Aaryavir fell on 297, his father's response was classic Sehwag — equal parts pride and mischief.

If Aaryavir carries traces of Sehwag's attacking intent, Anvay Dravid is something altogether different. The 17-year-old is a right-handed wicketkeeper-batter who captained Karnataka in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy and amassed 220 runs. He is methodical, composed, and plays with a maturity that belies his age — qualities that will surprise exactly nobody who knows whose son he is.

But Anvay is not just a carbon copy of his father's defensive technique. On India U-19's tour of Sri Lanka in July, he smashed 87 off 67 balls — nine fours and a six — rescuing India from an early collapse with a 145-run partnership for the fifth wicket. A strike rate of 129.85 from a Dravid behind the stumps. Rahul never batted like that. Anvay finished the two-match tour with 101 runs and looked every bit the player who should be on the next U-19 World Cup squad.

Indian cricket has a complicated relationship with famous sons. The expectations are absurd, the scrutiny is relentless, and the comparisons are inevitable. Rohan Gavaskar was a decent cricketer who never escaped his father's shadow. Arjun Tendulkar has shown promise but faces constant measurement against an impossible standard. The surname opens doors, but it also installs a ceiling of expectation that no teenager should have to carry.

What separates Aaryavir and Anvay from the "famous son" narrative is simple: runs. Aaryavir didn't get selected because his father once hit 319 against South Africa. He got selected because he smashed 297 off 309 balls in the Cooch Behar Trophy and has been piling up runs in the Delhi Premier League. Anvay didn't make the squad because his father coached India to two ICC trophies. He made it because he hit 87 off 67 balls on tour in Sri Lanka and captained Karnataka at age-group level. The BCCI selectors at U-19 level are many things, but sentimental isn't one of them.

The three one-day matches against Australia U-19 are scheduled for September 18, 21, and 23 at the SCA Stadium in Rajkot. Lakshya Raichandani will captain the side in the one-dayers. Aaryavir and Anvay will be in the same squad — the same dressing room, the same bus rides, the same warm-ups. The sons of two men who built India's golden batting era together, now sharing space at the beginning of their own journeys.

Australia U-19 will bring their own talent. These matches are competitive, not ceremonial. But the subplot will be irresistible. Every time Aaryavir walks out to bat, commentators will invoke the Multan triple, the 319 at Chennai, the fearless slashes through cover. Every time Anvay takes guard, they'll talk about The Wall, the patience, the technique. Whether that's a gift or a burden depends entirely on how many runs these two score.

There is something deeply satisfying about this announcement, and it has nothing to do with sentimentality. Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid were the yin and yang of Indian batting — one attacked everything that moved, the other defended everything that didn't. They complemented each other so perfectly that India's batting golden era is essentially a story of their partnership. Now their sons are in the same U-19 squad, selected on merit, against Australia, in a series that matters for U-19 World Cup preparation.

The best part? They're not copies of their fathers. Aaryavir has Sehwag's aggression but bats with a structure that Virender never bothered with. Anvay has Dravid's composure but strikes the ball at rates that Rahul would have considered reckless. They are their own cricketers, shaped by their own journeys, carrying surnames that will follow them forever but don't define them yet.

Fourteen years after Adelaide, the names Sehwag and Dravid will appear on an Indian team sheet again. This time, nobody owes anyone a Ferrari. But if Aaryavir gets to 300, we expect Virender to keep the promise.