12,000 Bricks of The Wall - The RD Story

There are some sports personalities ranging from Lance Armstrong to Tiger Woods, Maradona to Michael Johnson who has defied the adversity and champions of the time to emerge as Champions themselves. For me Rahul Dravid is one of these players who have decorated the sports with performances and perfect persona. In this aura when indiscipline and hooliganism are the order of the sporting world Rahul Dravid has restored cricket as a gentleman’s game.
This illustrious journey started about 19 years ago when he made his Ranji Trophy debut in February 1991 against Maharashtra in Pune scoring 82 in a drawn match after batting in the No. 7 position. He made his International debut alongside Sourav Ganguly who stole the show at that time with his triple figure show even though Rahul missed the century just by 5 runs.
He came across as a technically correct batsman with strong defense coupled with firm concentration. Shortly he debuted as a one day batsman also. But his game at that time was too slow for one day format as by that time Jayasuriya has changed the face of international limited overs cricket. Dravid was dropped as a batsman from the one day team due to his slowness as batsman, he was declared unfit for one day cricket. That is the point where most of the batsmen are differentiated as ordinary or great. Rahul Dravid chose to be a great player. He made his comeback in the series in New Zealand in 1998/99 and replied his critics with a century scoring 123 off 123 balls. He is only one of the few players ever who play spin and pace equally well. His 60-ball-92 in the ODI series vs. England in 2007 stands testimony to the
strides he has made over a period of time. He is the second Indian batsman, after Sachin Tendulkar and the third international player after Ricky Ponting to have scored more than 12,000 runs in Test cricket

All his shots, whether the typical square cut or the leg side drives through mid on even the inside out lofted drive over mid off, all were result of the hard work put in the nets. Rahul has been such a perfectionist of the game that after every dismissal he can be seen checking his shot to find out the error he made instead of throwing is head back is a disgusting manner.

Dravid has always put his best foot forward for the betterment of Indian cricket whether it was for taking the responsibility of wicketkeeper for providing right balance to the team. He has even batted at No. 7 for the team for good period of four years when, while batting at his customary No. 3 position. For last 7-8 years Indian teams success in test cricket has been invariably linked to the success of Rahul Dravid with bat. Whether it is Kolkata, Headingley, Leeds, Adelaide, Rawalpindi, Port-of-Spain, Christchurch… one common factor in all the success is Rahul Dravid.

Dravid took over the reigns of Team India in one of the most turbulent times to have come in Indian cricket. He guided the team very well in the initial phase with series wins against Sri Lanka & England.Either the one day series against South Africa or an away win against West Indies in the test series after 35 years on the Caribbean soil in 2006. High point came in his captaincy when India beat Pakistan 4-1 in Pakistan in ODI’s and the test series win against England on English soil in 2007. It was a really difficult task to get the team back on track after the World Cup debacle, Dravid performed even accomplished this feat motivating the team and leading them to comprehensive series win against the Bangladesh. On various instances he has shown the signs of a smart cricketing brain like in Mumbai test in 2004 while defending 104 against Australia he opted to bowl Harbhajan Singh & Murali Kartik first instead of Anil Kumble and Australia were bundled out for a score of 93!

Rahul Dravid is great example of discipline, dedication and determination. His cricketing feats are great proof of that. He is not most gifted cricketer that’s why he puts forward great example for us to learn. He is an idol for any person who wants to be successful, for that matter in any field of career.

I would like to end here with a saying that which Rahul Dravid has exemplified: Patience, Persistence and Practice leads to PERFECTION

The journey continues.

Summary of some of his feats:

1. Dravid currently holds the world record for the highest number of catches 200 in Test cricket
2. Dravid has scored two hundreds in each innings of a test match twice.
3. He had played 94 consecutive test matches after his debut, without missing even a single test match, which is a record, which is a tribute to the fitness levels he has maintained over a period of time.
4. Dravid was top run scorer in the World Cup 1999, scoring 461 runs.
5. Involved in the highest partnership in the history of ODI cricket with a 331 run partnership along with Sachin Tendulkar vs. New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1999-2000.
6. He has scored hundreds in 5 consecutive test matches.
7. He was crowned ICC Player of the year 2004.
8. Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2000.
9. MTV Youth Icon of the Year for 2004.
10. Captain of the ICC’s Test Team of 2006.
11. Has the record of not being dismissed on duck for 120 consecutive ODI matches.
12. Dravid has also been involved in more than 85 century partnerships with 18 different partners and has been involved in 19 century partnerships with Sachin Tendulkar which is a world record
13. Dravid has faced highest number of deliveries in test cricket, more than 28357 deliveries

-By Mandar Kelkar