If you could take your memory to few years back, then you might have not forgotten India’s devastating tour to Australia in 2011-2012. Unexpectedly Team India lost the series 4-0 to the host. The repeated bowled-out dismissals of Rahul Dravid throughout the test series invited a lot of undue attention from the cricket experts and the media all around the globe.
Rahul Dravid: The Great Wall of India
Finally the day came when the stylish batsman decided to hang his boots. An emotional speech was delivered by the cricketer at a crowded press conference in India to announce his retirement. It is important to mention here that although Rahul Dravid is more famous for his marathon innings in test matches, but he has equally marvelled in ODIs as well. The batsman scored more than 10,000 runs in both tests and ODIs.
Dravid has rightfully been called Mr. Consistent. There have been a number of occasions when the batsman waged a lone battle for team India to fight against the opponents while the rest of the team members failed. The batsman has earned a worldwide fame for his temperament, timing and astute placement. Nevertheless, you can’t find a consistent performer like him in competitive cricket playing for such a long time.
Rahul Dravid is truly a Great Wall of India. In most of India’s victory in test matches played abroad the elegant batsman played some of the world’s best knocks. Despite many of the cricket experts call him an unsung hero, but he has got innumerable fans worldwide.
The day Rahul Dravid retired, he got a wonderful statistics for the rest to follow and get inspired. The wonderful batsman got 36 test tons and 63 fifties in his astonishing test career. He played a total of 164 tests and took 210 catches which also shows that how such a fantastic fielder he is! Out of Dravid’s 36 test hundreds India have successfully defended the 30 test matches. Indeed, he is a match winner.
In times of our era Indian cricket team had been lucky to play with the likes of Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar and of course Rahul Dravid. Each of these cricketers is wonderful in themselves. There is no need to draw comparisons between them rather just like a true cricket enthusiast, it would be better to count those memorable victories that these players brought for India while playing together.
Among these cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid have played together for a relatively longer period of time. Dravid retired in the early 2012 followed by Laxman’s retirement in August in the same year, while Sachin Tendulkar decided to bid adieu to the game of cricket only a year back.
It was long ago that Dravid had earned the reputation of being one of the best batsmen in tests. The unmatched style, class and technique that Dravid has can’t be imitated by anyone else. He had answers to every sort of deliveries and when Dravid is on fire you just can’t get him out.
How can anyone forget the rare feat of the batsman when got two consecutive centuries in each inning of the test matches twice in his glorious career; one against New Zealand and the other one against Pakistan? Before Dravid, only Hazare and Gavaskar had achieved this rare feat from India.
It doesn’t matter whether you are a fan of cricket or not, but the charisma of Rahul Dravid is so touching that you will love him as a great, calm, reserved and thoughtful human being. His never-say-die attitude has always been the extraordinary one. In the beginning of his career Dravid struggled a lot to cement a place for himself in the Indian ODI side. It was his sheer perseverance and effort that today he is also counted as one of the most successful ODI batsman of all time. Thank You! Rahul Dravid.
Tags: Cricket, India, Mr. Consistent, Rahul Dravid, Team India, The Wall
