Former England all-rounder Dermot Reeve has recalled once being told by Rahul Dravid that he is the “only person” who’s ever got under the skin of the Indian batting great.

In an interview with Daily Mail, Reeve, who played three Tests and 29 ODIs for England, recalled the time he was involved in a verbal duel with Dravid during the Indian batsman’s county stint with Kent in 2000. Reeve, who was coaching Somerset at the time, came into the field as a fielding substitute and proceeded to rile up the Indian batter.

Targeting Dravid, who was rarely drawn to verbal jousting, Reeve let out a volley of sledges: “How did this guy ever play for India? He must have had family on the selection committee. He hasn’t got any shots. He just blocks it”.

The move worked, as Dravid seemingly got out soon after the verbal attack.

Reeve said: “I went on and on. And he got out. Things like that made me very disliked. But I wasn’t out there to make friends. We were there to win matches.”

Reeve said that Dravid later told him that he was the only person who had managed to rile up the Indian batter, having been given ‘so much stick’.

“He was the Wall of India,” Reeve said. “He told me, ‘You are the only person who has knocked that wall down. You gave me so much stick, I ended up going after one and getting caught. You’re the only person who’s ever got under my skin’.”