As Rahul Dravid hangs his boots, it brings an era to a close. He is probably the last in the lineage of the traditional Test Batsman. Dravid's retirement will close one the most beautiful chapters of batting at no.3. This chapter encompassed, the perfect convolution the of traditional batting with the contemporary.
As Rahul Dravid bids adieu to cricket, it also takes another legend out of the famous Indian batting line up. Dravid would remain the least flamboyant of the "fab-4". Dravid was no Tendulkar. He was not as charismatic as Saurav Ganguly. He never flicked a leg-spinner from outside the off-stump to the square leg boundary like Laxman did. Of the quartet, he was the most traditional and perhaps the most old-fashioned. Dravid had built his success story not with swashbuckling innings' or with a few spectacular strokes, but with sweat and pain on the pitch. It is this very sweat, which he shed laid the foundation for his success story.
The greatest contribution of Dravid to Indian cricket has been the fact that he played so many match winning knocks in the toughest of times. In testing conditions, Dravid prevailed. Whether it was Headlingly or Adelaide, Dravid dug it out and deftly weaved famous wins. Surviving good balls and making the bowlers bowl to his strengths was the mantra Dravid followed. Concentration and Patience were probably the greatest gifts Dravid had got. The ability to keep surviving all the wicket taking balls and finally hit the loose ball for a boundary was the biggest strength Rahul Dravid possessed.
Dravid may not have been a crowd puller or an entertainer. He may have rarely kept the spectators on the edge of their seats. Probably because it is much harder to appreciate one surviving a great ball than appreciate a beautiful boundary of an ordinary ball. But he was the architect of so many Indian successes. He was prepared to look bad so that team could look good. He was prepared to carry the image of a boring cricketer but was never prepared to let the team down.
Post-2000 era Dravid made his own. He was involved in almost every famous Indian win. He carved one success story over the other and was instrumental changing the face of Indian team from a team that just turned up on overseas tours to the one which was a force to reckon with. He donned various roles in these great wins. Sometimes he was the forgotten hero as in the famous Kolkata test. In other occasions, he was the glorified hero like in Adelaide and Headingley. Some other times he was the sacrificer as in 2003 WC when he agreed to keep the stumps so that India could afford an extra batsman. In an era where India was struggling with their opening pair, Dravid was invariably the virtual opener in many occasions and had taken up the task of weathering the new ball. He took up the role of taking the shine off the new ball and thereby setting up the stage on which the rest of the middle order could reveal. It was Dravid's exploits in this era that gave a new face to Indian cricket which had the courage and skill to play outside the sub-continent.
Dravid has been one of the most selfless cricketers ever. As Navjyoth Singh Sidhu puts it, he would be ready to walk on broken glass if his team wanted him to do so. The fact that he agreed to be the wicket-keeper for the World Cup (2003) is a testimony for Sidhu's statement. On so many occasions Dravid agreed to move himself out his comfort zone of no. 3 and open the batting when the team required him to do so.
As Dravid calls it a day, curtains fall upon the career of probably one of the nicest gentleman to play the game. Without doubt, Rahul Dravid would be amongst one the greatest and the nicest batsman the game has ever seen. Dravid, one the greatest ambassadors of the game will remain an inspiration for all those who aspire to success in any walk of life.
Dravid's Career in pictures:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/current/gallery/556655.html
You may also read: http://cricketadithya.blogspot.in/2012/03/dravid-inspiration.html
As Rahul Dravid bids adieu to cricket, it also takes another legend out of the famous Indian batting line up. Dravid would remain the least flamboyant of the "fab-4". Dravid was no Tendulkar. He was not as charismatic as Saurav Ganguly. He never flicked a leg-spinner from outside the off-stump to the square leg boundary like Laxman did. Of the quartet, he was the most traditional and perhaps the most old-fashioned. Dravid had built his success story not with swashbuckling innings' or with a few spectacular strokes, but with sweat and pain on the pitch. It is this very sweat, which he shed laid the foundation for his success story.The greatest contribution of Dravid to Indian cricket has been the fact that he played so many match winning knocks in the toughest of times. In testing conditions, Dravid prevailed. Whether it was Headlingly or Adelaide, Dravid dug it out and deftly weaved famous wins. Surviving good balls and making the bowlers bowl to his strengths was the mantra Dravid followed. Concentration and Patience were probably the greatest gifts Dravid had got. The ability to keep surviving all the wicket taking balls and finally hit the loose ball for a boundary was the biggest strength Rahul Dravid possessed.
Dravid may not have been a crowd puller or an entertainer. He may have rarely kept the spectators on the edge of their seats. Probably because it is much harder to appreciate one surviving a great ball than appreciate a beautiful boundary of an ordinary ball. But he was the architect of so many Indian successes. He was prepared to look bad so that team could look good. He was prepared to carry the image of a boring cricketer but was never prepared to let the team down.
Post-2000 era Dravid made his own. He was involved in almost every famous Indian win. He carved one success story over the other and was instrumental changing the face of Indian team from a team that just turned up on overseas tours to the one which was a force to reckon with. He donned various roles in these great wins. Sometimes he was the forgotten hero as in the famous Kolkata test. In other occasions, he was the glorified hero like in Adelaide and Headingley. Some other times he was the sacrificer as in 2003 WC when he agreed to keep the stumps so that India could afford an extra batsman. In an era where India was struggling with their opening pair, Dravid was invariably the virtual opener in many occasions and had taken up the task of weathering the new ball. He took up the role of taking the shine off the new ball and thereby setting up the stage on which the rest of the middle order could reveal. It was Dravid's exploits in this era that gave a new face to Indian cricket which had the courage and skill to play outside the sub-continent.
Dravid has been one of the most selfless cricketers ever. As Navjyoth Singh Sidhu puts it, he would be ready to walk on broken glass if his team wanted him to do so. The fact that he agreed to be the wicket-keeper for the World Cup (2003) is a testimony for Sidhu's statement. On so many occasions Dravid agreed to move himself out his comfort zone of no. 3 and open the batting when the team required him to do so.
As Dravid calls it a day, curtains fall upon the career of probably one of the nicest gentleman to play the game. Without doubt, Rahul Dravid would be amongst one the greatest and the nicest batsman the game has ever seen. Dravid, one the greatest ambassadors of the game will remain an inspiration for all those who aspire to success in any walk of life.
Dravid's Career in pictures:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/current/gallery/556655.html
You may also read: http://cricketadithya.blogspot.in/2012/03/dravid-inspiration.html
a superb article..... well written,
ReplyDelete@Navjyoth, Thanks mate!
ReplyDeleteThe best piece I have read about Rahul Dravid: http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/526147.html
ReplyDeleteNice article :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Vinodh!
Delete