Bidding addieu to the Gentleman cricketer - Rahul Dravid

For the past 15 years, if there had been a sporting icon, whose career grew along with me, and I had the pleasure to experience his ups and downs, it has to be Rahul Dravid. When he burst into the scene, people hardly noticed him. "Over shadowed by others" was the norm of his career until the England series in 2011. I remember my granny calling him a Dhravam (literally meaning acid), because he just used to stick to the crease scoring at a snail's pace. But if there is a competition for the biggest Jammy fans around, I am sure I would be somewhere near the very top!! I enjoy every aspect of his game. I have been disappointed by him a few times, but then he is also a human being. I read really a lot of wonderful tributes when he retired. Though coming at later than most, I just want to express my gratitude to my sports hero for making association with cricket really enjoyable.

The earliest memories for me is the indian tour of west indies in 97!! So many scores in 80s and 90s against last of good bowling units WI had. In his second year he almost became a mainstay of indian test team. And then came the worst phase of his career. A trination involving india zim and kenya! and mind you India lost the tournament. India collectively played poorly and for the first time dravid was dropped from the team. But when recalled, he had an amazing tour of new zealand and as they often say, "The rest is history". I can write 2 more pages fully filled with facts about records dravid holds. A fellow blogger of mine has articulated it wonderfully well. You can read it here . All I can say is that, if I am batting I would only want dravid at the other end. I am sure I will break many records!! :D

So why do I rather respect him so much?  I Learnt the following things from him,

1. Importance of being patient, from the way he waits for the scoring opportunities.
2. Importance of hardwork. Just from the way he transformed himself from technically efficient blocker to one of the finest all round batsman. Starting as a predominantly leg side player, he has developed in his armory one of the most classic cover drives of the game.
3. How to adapt to change. He has had success in all types of pitches and bowling attacks. He has scored centuries batting at all the 7 positions. Just when was made captain, the spark in his batting was lost a bit. But he was one of the first captains to use batting powerplay efficiently. (England touring india in 2006-07) 
4. Actions are always louder than words. "Just look at his records." 
5. Being diplomatic - I can remember Dravid loosing his cool only twice in his entire career. Against Donald in Jburg in 98 and Micheal Slater at Mumbai in 2001.
6. Playing to your strengths. Dravid never changed his approach to the game. He built his game around his core strength, playing a technically sound game. Even for T 20!! 

There are a few things in which he has disappointed me.

1. Never handled the pressure of leading a team properly. Thats a fact. 
2. Never stood up for ganguly against chapell. Being his deputy he must have stood up for Ganguly. 
3. Long standing cold war between Dravid and Sachin with the later boycotting Dravid's felicitation and Dravid failing to mention Sachin in his speech. It was just sad. Not at all a good precedent.
4. Should have retired after the England series. Or after scoring a century at Bangalore. He failed to leave with a bang. :(.

But any how the positives easily outweigh the negatives. My favorites include,

Fav Innings : Definitely has to be the one against the english in Headingly. On a green top, a magnificent show of defensive batting. Ganguly made a bold decision of selecting 2 spinners on a green top. And won the toss and selected to bat also!! Because he had easily the most inform player in the world cricket then. Any highlights package u will watch on youtube will show his fifty in just a minute. But mind you it took him more than 50 fifty overs to reach the milestone. Easily one of the best innings I have ever seen. My favorite Dravid innings and one where india won because of a complete team effort.

Fav Shot: Has to be the leg glance through mid wicket. Not many players can play it like him. But if there is a shot that will remain in my mind, it will be the six he hit of murali against Sri Lanka in 1999 world cup. Have a look at this shot. Hoisting the best off spinner in the world over covers for a six.

Contemporaries who were his competition: OK no Sachin here. He is different from Dravid at every level. There are 3 players who come to mind. Kallis, Chandrepaul and Damien Martin. These players cannot be compared!!

So thank you Dravid, for making my student life really interesting. It was great following your career and hopefully I will be able to watch a Rajasthan Royals game before you totally retire from all forms of cricket!!  Rahul Sharad Dravid - Hats off to you!!