" Its a Glorious day for test cricket,Ideal conditions for fast bowling.Being put into bat by the opposition and a Reckless shot by one of the dashing openers (Yes its Him P.s - Did you see his catch ?? ) and an hour to go for the Lunch Interval,brings the Man they aptly call " The Wall " in the middle to ensure that India DO NOT lose another wicket therby assuring that a God and a Hyderabadi Painter can have a relaxed lunch."How often have you heard somethin like this during the passage of a day's play in Test cricket and more astonishingly how often has it come true too.
Cometh the Hour,Cometh the Man : Rahul Sharad Dravid . To describe in golfing terms: his career "Tee'd Off " with a bang !! and he had no trouble "Making the Putt" on the Greenest of greens with his exceptional talent and the meanest of defences.He wasnt the flamboyant "Hole-in-One" guy ,instead a methodical chess player trying to figure his way out in the middle stroke by stroke and resisting the temptation to flash the ball outside the off stump.Infact if cricketers were paid for overtime, Rahul would be one of the game's top earners.Rahul Dravid is like the guy who came 2nd in Class in School all the time !! : Pressure was his best friend.The pressure to topple the guy who comes first one day at the same time staying ahead of the rest of them who are tryin to close in on him to be the next best.Thats what no.3's of the game have to endure for the major part of their careers : Be padded-up and be ready to go out in the centre after one of the openers fall and see of the pressure for the game's greatest to step out at no.4 and take all the headlines.Life was tough but Dravid was tougher.
To talk and compare or point out some of his match winning innings one by one would need a cricinfo stats page ready side by side: Kolkata,Headingly,Adelaide,Rawalpindi,Oval are just some of the few names that that bring back some real sweet memories.He stood like a Wall and made us as a nation believe that yes we can win test matches abroad too.He started the process that made oppositions start taking the touring Indian team seriously and not merely as a vacation party.
Selfish was never an attribute u could associate with Rahul Dravid.His pragmatic approach to the game was wat has made him a role model for alot of young cricketers.Saying " Yes " was almost a reflex response that came out of his mouth whenever his team asked him for a favour,be it opening the batting,keeping wickets to balance the compostion of the side,batting 3,4 down , captaincy u name it and Rahul never said no.From being labelled a " Test Cricket Only " batsmen to accepting the challenges of ODI cricket learning adapting and constantly improving his craft and goin on to score more than 10000 runs in the shorter format was no mean feat.His catch taking ability was also exceptional in the early part of his career.Most mere mortals would have given up,Rahul was determined to scale the Everest. He wanted to prove himself right more than anyone else wrong."Life is Funny " was all he had to say when he made his T20 debut at the age of 38 and smacked 3 succesive 6's of a bowler.
Talent without Determination and a sense of Application is like an unpolished diamond : Rahul Dravid was the Finished product . If Sachin Tendulkar was the Best thing to happen to Indian cricket ,Rahul was the best thing to happen to Sachin Tendulkar.
Its the End of Day's play for Dravid : Its time to pick up the kids from school !!
Thanks for the memories.
