Atlast Rahul Dravi decided to call it a day after carrying the tag The Wall meaningfully for 16 years. He arrived on the scene against Sri Lanka in 1996 one day tri series just after the World cup. Dravid & Ganguly made the test debut on the Lord's the later got his century in that match but Rahul missed it just by 5 runs. After Sunil Gavaskar he was the one who looked always sure about his off stump leaving the ball without any ambiguous mind adding to the frustration of fast bowlers. He was kind of a batsman who always played a secondary role of keeping the wicket & steadying the team's ship.
It was the tour of S.Africa in the 96-97 series & later the West indies tour that earned him the name The Wall for his immaculate defense, scoring the runs on fast tracks & preserving his wicket. Team India always relied on him in Test matches played abroad to play long innings& he didn't disappoint the team's faith in him. Through out his career he never looked giving importance to personal milestones. Even after scoring century his joy, or waving the bat was more of a satisfaction of putting the team in good condition. Rahul Dravid who made debut & today’s Rahul Dravid there is no change in terms of his behavior, way of playing or his physique.
He was never in a limelight for the records, number of runs or number of centuries, he never involved in so called sledging, indiscipline behavior. In 1997 in the final of tri series against South Africa Dravid hit a huge six over long- on against Allan Donald, The furious fast bowler then bowled a fiery bouncer to Dravid & confronted him with some abusive language. But Dravid did not respond & just gave him a long stare. After the match Donald met him & explained that it was just the reaction of a typical fast bowler, but Dravid didn’t entertain him at that time. He was a kind of a person who would take pride of his batting.
To me as a cricket lover statistics of a player should not be the judgment for his greatness. But just for explaining the profile:- he scored more than 10,000+ runs in one day & 13,000+ runs in Test cricket.
There was a period when Rahul David’s one day career was a bit shaky. His playing style was causing the slow run rate for the team. In the death over he was not able to slog the bowlers & score quick runs. With other youngsters around having innovative batting style and scoring quick runs Dravid’s place in the team was not giving the required balance. To accommodate Dravid in the team he was asked to keep the wickets. To the team’s interest he didn’t deny & kept the wickets successfully. In the tests also when we were struggling to find even a descent opening batsman Dravid was asked “Will you open the innings?” , the gentleman played in the opening slot for the team’s interest again.
As for the records he has good runs on the foreign pitches than on the Indian tracks, he could achieve it because of his strong technique & heart to face the fast bowling. Before the last series against England, out of his 33 test centuries India has just lost one test..! Other 32 being drawn or in winning cause. It shows how much his runs were important for the Team India.
As a captain he didn’t enjoy a long tenure. He captained team India in 25 tests with a ratio of 8- wins, 6 –losses. & in 79 one day - 42 wins & 33 losses.
The memorable performances in tests were always against top teams. Score of 180 against Aus. in Kolkata test 2001, double century in Adelaide test 2003-4, 270 in Pakistan, 145 against South Africa in 97, 144 against England on lively Headingly pitch 2002 series. He was also involved in 300 runs partnership more than 5 occasions, & also has highest number of century partnerships.
When Gavaskar retired he said that his foot movement was not getting to the requirement & the reflexes were not matching to the standards. In just concluded Australia series Dravid’s defense got drilled more often than not. For a high standard player like Dravid it was the sign of age affecting his batting. & I am sure the same thought would have creped in his mind. Despite knowing this he didn’t give any indication or statement of his retirement to avoid the distraction of the team from the matches which was performing very poorly.
From all cricket lovers we give tribute to Dravid for his dedicated efforts & contribution to the Cricket.
Its' an end of a defiance era....
Ritesh R Kadam.
rityakadam@rediffmail.com
Cell:-09011020015
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