Rahul Dravid humbly declines Bangalore University's offer to present him with a honorary doctorate

Former Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid recently turned down an offer from Bangalore University to decorate him with an honorary doctorate. The university management had planned to bestow the honour at its 52nd convocation ceremony on 27 January.

Declining the offer, Dravid stated that he would rather earn a doctorate in sports research than receiving a honorary one. A press release by Bangalore University announced Dravid's refusal thus: "He has conveyed that he would try to earn a doctorate degree by accomplishing some form of academic research in the field of sport rather than receiving an honorary degree."

Speaking to The Times of India, Vice-chancellor of Bangalore University Thimme Gowda said, "We've learnt that he's reluctant to accept the honour because he'd rather earn it. An honorary doctorate, however, is not gratis. It is a recognition for his contribution to sports. We've been trying to get in touch with him, but he's out of town currently. Once he's back, we'll try to convince him about it."

However, this is not something new to Dravid, known as 'The Wall' for his rock solid defence as a batsman. The legendary batsman had earlier declined a similar offer from Gulbarga University in 2014.

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