Rahul Dravid

Now that all the news of Rahul Dravid's retirement has settled down, let me write my views as well.

Cricinfo link - http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/player/28114.html

Article by his wife after retirement - http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/556979.html


Harsha Bhogle - http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/556769.html


Guradian take - http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2012/mar/09/rahul-dravid-india-genius-boundary


I think the above links tell more about the man that i could ever write with my knowledge of literature.  But here is my version of things  -


Whenever i see an Indian match and India is batting, no matter how good or bad is the opposition, i always have an uncertainty in my heart - at every ball, i believe that it could be a wicket-taking ball and any batsman, howsoever he is set at the crease, i believe that he could get out.  That batsman could be Sachin, Dhoni, earlier Ganguly and more so if he is Sehwag. But the only exception to this feeling has been Rahul Dravid. If he is there, i was always confident that the wicket will not fall on the next delivery. I dont know who gave him the title - The wall, but it has been so appropriate.  "Thou shall not fall" that's what i think.

When you look at Dravid's batting, one realizes that he is not the most gifted player, he is not stylish or anything but there is one adjective that is always present - determined. He is simply determined to face the next ball and it is his determination, the "never give up" attitude that makes him a delight to watch. I forgot the fact that he was also a keeper. It is quite sad that the Dravid-era of captaincy was bad for Indian cricket but at that time nothing was working. And plus we were also playing overseas for the most part :)

Dravid's off field behavior is to admire and respect. In his retirement speech, he said that so far he has been living in a cocoon, in an un-real world..... I wonder these days who would make such a statement. Honesty kehte hain isen.

Also, Dravid is very special to me because his career coincided with my hay days of cricket watching. My cricket memory starts with 96 world cup and i remember Ajay Jadeja, Robin Sinfh, Srinath, Prasad and Raju very well from those days. But it all fell apart and it was 4 years of frustration because even though the talent was there, the team overall was not winning. But yet, the brave persisted. Genius comes in many forms and to Indian cricket it was Sachin, Dravid, Kumble and Ganguly who shaped it. These were the guys who just stuck at it, even with all defeats they wanted to build games on their own shoulders and always were trying to prove a point. And comparatively speaking it was the hardest for Dravid because all he had in his defense was a sportsman's grit and on that alone he has built his career. I still believe that 2003 world cup team was the best Indian team in the last three decades and that was the team that deserved to have the seat at finals. So when Dravid retires, it is like one school friend is saying good bye and we both know that this is the last time that we are meeting.

I will always remember Dravid as the example he has set before us. Whenever there are things that are not going in my way, whenever this world feels full of problems, whenver i am about to give up, i think i would just need to remember his face and there will always be a solution that he has taught me - Persist and it will happen. 

Thank you Rahul Dravid.