Rahul Dravid : The Wall

[Riyazz]

Dravid .....

[raghavendran]

Dravid actually got overshadowed by SRT(obviously)..avar mattum Australiavila adirndha..adutha Bradmannu sollirpainga..he is the 3rd best Indian batsman ever..SRT,Gavaskar,then ivardhan..innum evolo kalam analum

[VinodKumar's]

West Indies v India, 1st Test, Kingston, 3rd day

Important to weather the storm - Dravid

Sriram Veera at Sabina Park
June 22, 2011

There is an element of gravitas about Rahul Dravid that escalates on days like this. The hands hold the bat tighter, his visage gets more determined, the eyes drip with intensity, the self-admonishments when he plays a shot he thinks he shouldn't have increase, and he drags you with him into the match. You can feel the pressure of the scoreboard, the match situation, the misbehaving pitch, and the whole drama. It's his battle, but you can feel the intensity.
"I love a contest," Dravid said. "It's because I love the contest [that] I still enjoy the sport. It's also good for me because we found ourselves a bit against the wall, and I had to fight my way through it … at this stage of your career you play because you love the contest, and [want] to make an important contribution to the team. It's a satisfactory feeling when you are in the middle of a situation [like this] and make a difference."
Early in the morning, Ravi Rampaul tested Dravid's patience and skill. Some deliveries cut in from outside off, some straightened and a few reared up. "He kept things tight for me and it was a good contest. I knew I had to get through that 7-8 over [period] of good quality from him. But you need to back yourself to fight through it rather than throwing it away."
He also had to take care the younger batsmen didn't throw it away. Late last evening, Dravid had to watch Virat Kohli being hustled by Fidel Edwards' bouncers. He repeatedly walked across to chat with his younger partner. He did that today as well with Kohli - who didn't last long - and the others that followed. "One of the things I tell these guys [the young players] is that you have to weather the storm, the intensity of a particular spell, that will last for 6-10 overs. In Test cricket you need to fight your way through that, and then things will become easier. You can get caught up a bit with things happening in the middle, people making a lot of noise, the ball flying around or spinning past you … I have committed that mistake, and thinking becomes really hard. But if you fight your way through that period, things will become a bit easier, like a bowling change or the bowlers will get tired."
That he did. In the end, West Indies had to find a way around him to get at India. Dravid was the last man to fall. It was an observation from Ravi Rampaul, that was shared by Darren Sammy at the press conference, that told the tale of Dravid's determination. "Ravi told me that Dravid played just one pull shot. That too, when he was on 98." And it came at a time when he was in danger of running out of partners. Even then, it was followed by self-admonishment. "Yeah, obviously it was partly because of the pitch, and also because of the situation we found ourselves in," Dravid said, about playing just one pull. "We knew that we have to set up a pretty decent score from [where we were at] 50-odd for three. They bowled pretty well also. So it was a combination of factors that made me a bit circumspect; I had to ensure that I was there till the end, and make sure that we got a competitive score."

Dravid is not getting any younger - how taxing does it get, especially when there are long breaks between Test series'? "It was tough physically, especially coming off after a long journey and getting up early in the morning," he said. "It was pretty hot out there, and I have not played a Test in a long time. You can do as much training as possible: sit on a bike in gym and run laps around the ground. But for [complete] batting and fielding fitness … you need to have practice.
"Yes, it has been very challenging. If you do it consistently then you'll get a rhythm. With these breaks, I guess it takes some more time to get into it [the rhythm]. But it's not easy for someone like me who needs to bat long - I sweat a lot - so physically and mentally, it has always been a good contest. That's why I work hard on my fitness. I have the past experience to fall back upon", Dravid said.
Sammy was lavish in his praise. "Dravid has scored over 10,000 [Test] runs. He knows exactly what to do in these kinds of situations." Dravid hoped that his effort will culminate in a win. "It's [Sabina Park] a lovely place to tour, I have had some very good experiences as we won a Test match last time. So I hope this innings helps us to win this as well."

http://www.espncricinfo.com/west-ind...ry/520450.html

[VinodKumar's]

Superb article

Dravid and the mastery of the struggle

The celebrated writer Amitav Ghosh once said about the process of writing: “It ne
ver gets easier; it’s always hard, it’s always a test. I’ve reached a point in my life where if a sentence seems easy, I distrust it.”

For many writers, practicing their craft is daily, ongoing struggle. As Susanna Daniel says writing can lead to a state of “active non-accomplishment”. “Stunted ambition. Disappointed potential. Frustrated and sad and lonely and hopeless and sick to death of one’s self.”

For many writers, the joy lies in this struggle: to enter this web every morning, get trapped within and wriggle out by the end. To battle each sentence: twist it one way, then another before trashing it forever; to occasionally gather enough momentum to finish a paragraph; to extricate oneself from traps one has created for oneself; to get lost in ones own plot before eventually creating a way out. This must bring a most masochistic joy.

I think of all this when I watch Rahul Dravid. His daily search for struggle, his eagerness to bat on a spiked pitch, his desire to treat every ball like a grenade, his technique to counter any ball on any pitch and, most striking of all, his temperament to put behind the struggle that went before and focus on the struggle that awaits. Not for him a flat pitch on a sunny day. He’s not going to derive immense joy in hitting through the line. He craves a that masochistic joy.

For me, an ideal Dravid innings needs a most challenging pitch. If it’s a batting beauty with the ball coming on to the bat, give me Sehwag or Laxman; if there’s a truly great array of bowlers set to be unleashed, give me Tendulkar. If it’s a minefield, give me Dravid.

Great bowlers and a taut state of the match are a bonus. Kolkata, Adelaide and Rawalpindi are awesome but I want Headingley, Perth and Jo’burg. I want Kingston. I want Hamilton. The pitch must be spiced up or crumbling or smattered with cracks. A crater would be ideal. Or even a sandpit. Dravid cannot take stance knowing what the ball is going to do after pitching. He must not be offered predictable bounce. It’s all too insulting.

Dravid is the anti-McGrath. A batting metronome. Ball after ball, over after over, he wears bowlers down with his patience. It’s almost as if he has a plan: leave, leave, defend, leave, score. He sets up the bowler, making him bowl where he wants. Amid all this he calculates the vagaries of the pitch. It’s when he’s in a struggle that he’s in the zone.

For Hoggard, Caddick, Tudor and Flintoff at Headingley read Collins, Taylor, Collymore and Bravo at Kingston. For Donald, Pollock, McMillan and Klusener at Johannesburg read Doull, Cairns and Nash at Hamilton.
Today he was up against Edwards, Rampaul, Sammy and Bishoo. They were operating on a pitch that was up and down, just that nobody knew when it was up and when it was down. The ball jagged to and fro. Partners came, partners swished, partners got talked to, partners swished again and partners left. Through it all Dravid struggled, a truly masterful struggle.

He advised Raina to stop wafting down the leg side, he admonished Praveen when he swished. He disapproved when Mishra got impetuous and seemed to be advising Harbhajan to play with soft hands. He was sweating and his gaze was narrowing every hour. No one else could handle the pitch or the conditions. Only he knew how to enjoy this torture.

When I see Dravid bat, I think of our daily lives, the frustrations we endure. I think of how we struggle through the mundane: paying bills, shopping for groceries, standing in long queues, cleaning utensils, vacuuming. I think of how we go through days at work, bogged down by clerical chores, stuck in pointless meetings, often accomplishing tasks that we least enjoy. I think of our silly struggles and how we’re often overpowered by them.

And then I think of Dravid. Of course I admire him for his technical expertise, his equanimity, his ability to rescue a side. Of course I marvel at the way he bats and bats and bats. Of course I enjoy how he battles a crisis.
But most of all, I’m constantly in awe of his mastery of something we all try and run away from: the struggle.

http://sidveeblogs.wordpress.com/201...-the-struggle/

[VinodKumar's]

RD is man of the match

Rahul Dravid is the MoM. He says, "The pitch in 2006 was a lot more difficult. This was a great cricket wicket, that one had lots of shooters and lifters. Kudos to the groundmen. It's a challenge to play Test cricket without warm-ups, but nowadays Test tours are so tight that you don't even have side games. A bit disappointed with my shot in the first innings. Enjoying it as much as ever. Days like this, that's what you play for." Never says the wrong words

[raajarasigan]

Whaddey playe

[Plum]

Thats a good article Vinod but the implication that Laxman is needed only on good batting pitches is needless. Laxman has his own set of masterpieces on dodgy pieces, least of all Mumbai 2004

[roosevelt92]

rahul dravid is really the wall of india he stand at a one side which support the others to perform well ...

[roosevelt92]

no compare of rahul dravid with other players he is really such a great player ...

[VinodKumar's]

England v India, 1st npower Test, Lord's

Dravid returns to where it all began

Lord's operates on the same characteristics that have defined Rahul Dravid's career: discipline, order, balance, elegance, simplicity and respect


Rahul Dravid may as well confess he feels at home at Lord's. The ground operates on the same characteristics that have defined Dravid's career: discipline, order, balance, elegance, simplicity and respect.
He is an honorary MCC member and part of the MCC's world cricket committee and has been making an annual visit to NW8 since 2008. He intimately knows the walls and the portraits in the pavilion that houses the committee room and the famous Long Room.
So when Dravid says Lord's is a "very special" place for him, believe it. The respect is mutual. Dravid, who will become the first active member of the world cricket committee to play a Test at Lord's on Thursday, was even allowed today to enter the inner sanctum of the pavilion in the Indian team's bright blue tracksuit.
In the past, this would have been an unpardonable act at the 224-year-old MCC, long known for its insular and closed attitude; a place where you cannot enter without wearing a jacket and tie. It was an exceptional allowance granted to Dravid.
"It always brings back some special memories. I think this place is personally very special for me," Dravid said, when asked about his relationship with Lord's, the ground of his debut. The ground where he fell five runs short of a maiden century in his very first innings. He has only got 215 runs in the three matches he has played, but his hunger that was there on June 20, 1996 hasn't diminished one bit. The appetite for runs is still the same.
"To start your Test career, at this venue 15 years ago was indeed very special for me. And coming back here, in some strange way you always feel at home. You feel that this is the place for cricket. This is the place that truly understands cricket, and history and tradition of the game," said Dravid, who along with Tendulkar, is the only member of the current team to play at Lord's in the 1990s.

Our first experience at anything, regardless of the outcome, invariably becomes the inerasable reference point of our lives. For Dravid, the third day of the second Test 15 years ago is that point. "It meant a lot to me. I had played five years of first-class cricket to break into the Indian team. I'd scored a lot of runs in domestic cricket and got an opportunity to come on the tour of England." "At the start to series I wouldn't have given myself very good odds to even play with the kind of team that we had," he said. "There were a few injuries and I was lucky to get the opportunity and I knew that probably it would be the only one. Otherwise I would have to go back to domestic cricket and start the cycle all over again, scoring runs. But in India everyone scores a lot of runs in domestic cricket and sometimes it is very tough to break in. I had waited five years so I knew the significance and importance of it. So I was lucky. It was great for me, it meant so much. I never expected it to lead to anything. I never expected to be here 15 years later talking about it. Absolutely not."
Usually a reticent gent, and a bit stiff in front of the media, it was interesting to see Dravid open up about his insecurity as a youngster. But it is a nice example for today's youth like Abhinav Mukund and Suresh Raina in this squad and Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma and Murali Vijay back in India.. Most of them are on the same wobbling platform that Dravid stood on in 1996.
"I remember when I was 50 not out at the end of the day and I was walking back to the hotel with [Javagal] Srinath and I knew somehow that this was probably a very significant innings. I knew I had some more breathing space, I got a few more Test matches at least. It gave me a lot of confidence scoring 95 here and 80 at Trent Bridge. It gave me a lot of confidence for me as a player and as a person, too."