Royal salute to Rahul Dravid

Rahul Dravid is an Indian cricketer; sorry now it is former Indian cricketer. It is hard to say word former because I can’t see Indian cricket team without Dravid.

Rahul Dravid is known for his technique, and had been one of the best batsmen for the Indian cricket team. In the beginning, he was known as a defensive batsman who should be confined to Test cricket, and was dropped from the ODI. He drew criticism for not being able to adjust his style of play to the needs of ODI cricket, Dravid worked hard to change his game adjusting his batting style to suit the requirement of ODI cricket. It takes not much to prove himself as a perfect gentleman. Dravid had been branded as a Test specialist by experts and sports journalists alike. His nickname of ‘The Wall’ in Reebok advertisements is now used as his nickname. Rahul Dravid is one of the most consistent batsmen in the world.

Here the example; India reached 85–4 in reply to Australia’s 556, when Dravid and Laxman made 303 for the fifth wicket. Laxman was dismissed for 148 and Dravid went on make 233, at that time the highest score by an Indian batsman outside India. He made 72 not out in the second innings, as a result India won. His performance compelled Sourav Ganguly to compare him with God. I still remember his only T20 innings for India in 2011, when he hit 3 consecutive sixes, and he was nicknamed ‘Firewall ‘.

Everyone watches cricket, but I watched cricket for Dravid and his style. I learned many things from Dravid apart from cricket, the first and foremost is to maintain clam whatever may the circumstances be, we should not give up. And the other thing is, patience. Still I remember his words “Do the work with patience aiming at the goal until you succeed”. And other thing is unfailingly courteous; he dealt with fans the way he batted, facing the unending requests for autographs and photos head on and without a flinch. It won him enormous respect wherever he went, not something readily associated with many of today’s sportsmen.

Dravid is not just like Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag who can make scoreboard not to walk to run with a speed of jet plane. He is just simple Indian cricketer I can recall his word after reaching 10,000 runs milestone in test career, he said, “It’s a proud moment for sure. For me, growing up, I dreamt of playing for India. When I look back, I probably exceeded my expectations with what I have done over the last 10 to 12 years. I never had an ambition to do it because I never believed – it is just a reflection of my longevity in the game”. What a simplicity….

When we look at his IPL career graph it is totally different from ODIs and test. First Dravid played for Royal challengers Bangalore, and then he shifted to Rajasthan Royals. But he never tasted the success of thrown. In the last IPL season the way he was, is adorable. Three players and even franchise were found guilty for spot fixing. And crossing all hurdles as a captain is not an easy task; once again he proved he is not like other’s, he is something special. ‘The Wall’ has finally toppled. Rahul Dravid was dropped from the ODI team in 2009, but was selected again for an ODI series in England in 2011, surprised even Dravid himself since, he had not officially retired from ODI cricket, and he did not expect to be recalled. After being selected, he announced that he would retire from ODI cricket after the series. From TEST cricket in 2012 and IPL in 2013.

Points to remember:

  • In 2004, Dravid was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. On 7   September 2004.
  • Dravid is also one of the two batsmen to score 10,000 runs at a single batting position and is the third highest run scorer in Test Cricket.
  • Rahul Dravid saw 453 wickets fall while batting at the other side of the crease in a Test Career- the most by a batsman in a Test Career. And many more……..

Terrific role model saying that while youngsters look up to Tendulkar in awe, they could actually be Dravid”    __Sunil Gavaskar

Rahul Dravid is a legend. I don’t care if he is called lesser or greater than Sachin. In my eyes, he is more than just a cricketer. A man who did the impossible.. He made me want to be him. Thank you Dravid!

Sripadi Sravankumar

I am a writer. I'm a student and a brother. I'm a friend. Ever since I was a child, I would make up worlds, new Ideas and most of all. I am an organization freak. I'm trying to do something hat involves thinking. I like to keep things simple.

Leave a Reply