Rahul Dravid : The Wall

[VinodKumar's]

We all know how he performed in England.

Enna solla varapla Srinivasan. We all know how he performed in England am ... yetho orae oru series velandtutu retire aagura maari pesuraan ... varalaena ezhuthi vazhikitu vanthavathu vasikalam la ...ivar varalaenu yaaru azhutha ... he is pulling words from my mouth

[GSV]

cricket laye irukara maari edhavadhu nalladha pannunga Dravid..

[littlemaster1982]

Thanks Rahul for all those fighting innings and great memories Vera edhuvum solla varala

[ajaybaskar]

Rahul Dravid: much more than a wall

"I don't believe that you judge careers, or what people have done for 15-20 years based on one or two matches at the end. It is the body of work over a lifetime that goes into making a success story."

These words, spoken by Rahul Dravid during India's crushing 4-0 Test defeat in England last year, ring true on the day Indian cricket's most successful No. 3 batsman called time on his international career. A terrible final tour of Australia – 194 runs in eight innings, seven bowled dismissals in a row and no catches for the first time in a series of three or more Tests – and India's collective poor showing cost him the chance of a fitting swansong but the memories will live long. Dravid's poor returns in his final series did nothing to take away from the greatness of the man, the batsman and the Indian, or of what he has achieved in an international career spanning nearly 17 years.

Dravid's story is more than numbers and figures; it is about one man's consistency and dependability.

Where does one begin to pay tribute to Rahul Sharad Dravid? How do you assess his contributions to Indian cricket? He finishes as the second-highest run-scorer in Test cricket – just pause and read that again, let the words settle in your head – while being a role model for players the world over. He captained India to Test series wins in the West Indies and England to snap decades-long droughts, and played starring roles in some of Indian cricket's most famous overseas victories. Along the way, he adjusted his game to suit one-day cricket and collected over 10,000 runs. And they said he couldn't play ODI cricket.

The list goes on. Dravid was the first batsman to score a century in all Test-playing countries, the first batsman to score 10,000 runs at No. 3, the batsman to face the most deliveries in Test cricket, the longest in ODI cricket to not score a duck (120 innings), and he even batted 173 consecutive innings in international cricket (Tests and ODIs) without a duck between 2000 and 2004 – the longest sequence for any batsman. And in case there was any doubt as to what else he could do, Dravid ended up as the owner of the most catches in Test cricket.

Through it all, across the world and in varied conditions, Dravid was the consummate gentleman, the hard-working player. He rarely displayed anger, was not prone to rage or contempt, stayed clear of controversy (you can hardly call a lozenge a controversy). He batted where the team needed him to, even opening in Tests without hesitation; he didn't compromise on his fundamentals, even when crossing 10,000 ODI runs; he donned the wicketkeeper's gloves, he captained his country; he sealed chases and help set up victories; he gave his best to help India out of trouble; and even when the victim of the BCCI's whimsical hire-and-fire policy he turned up to work and didn't complain. You name it, and Dravid has done it. Such was the man's duty to his cause.

That he did all this under adversity, with team-mates getting more attention, didn't seem to bother Dravid. He was overshadowed on Test debut by Sourav Ganguly, and spent his career overshadowed by Sachin Tendulkar. What it must have been like to play under the shadow of India's greatest player – hell, he was even booed when he came out to bat because he wasn't the next player in, he wasn't Tendulkar – only Dravid can know. The closest we may ever come to know about that was in Dravid's admission, years ago, that "most people want me to get out quickly so they can watch Sachin bat."

Tendulkar was worshipped, VVS Laxman pulled off the unbelievable with silky wizardry, Virender Sehwag put bums in seats, and Ganguly had a legion of followers in Kolkata. What did Dravid get? The epithet of 'The Wall', symbolizing something solid yet distinctly drab, resistant but not repelling. It could hardly have been the sobriquet he envisioned when taking his first strides in competitive cricket as a youngster in Bangalore.

Yet like a wall, he weathered the tough times. His form started to wane from the series against South Africa in late 2006, and continued for two years. But Dravid came back from his slump, and defied his critics. He scored over 1,000 Test runs in 2011, at the age of 38. Those 1,000 runs, he admitted, were the most satisfying because people had doubted his ability to perform at that age.

And so, after 164 Tests and 13,288 runs spanning nearly 17 years, we Indians have much to thank Dravid for. For his repeated role in saving, setting up and winning matches for India, by standing up to the best in the world and in all sorts of conditions, for giving us the belief that victory and escape were possible as long as he was at the crease.

For Kolkata, Headingley, Adelaide, Rawalpindi, and Jamaica – five of India's most famous Test wins ever. In each, Dravid left his mark. Right up there with pride of place are his match-winning 233 against Australia in Adelaide; an epic 270 against Pakistan in Rawalpindi to help clinch a series win; that 180 in the company of Laxman at Eden Gardens to script Indian cricket's defining victory after the match-fixing scandal; his twin fifties on a dodgy surface in Jamaica to set up India's first win in the West Indies for 35 years.

There were also colossal innings to avert defeats in Port-of-Spain, Georgetown and Nottingham, to name three memorable instances. There were four Test centuries in consecutive innings, and four double-centuries in the span of 15 Tests. There were runs in ODI cricket, a format in which Dravid appeared a misfit earlier in his career, and loads of them. He even top-scored in a World Cup.

Today, at the age of 39, has taken the decision to retire with the precision with which he cut and drove the ball down the years. He knew the end was near, but held off until the Indian team returned from a difficult tour of Australia so as not to distract attention from his countrymen. His career is over, and now his legacy truly comes into being. You can only become a legend once you have retired, and from today we can rightfully term Dravid a legend.

[raajarasigan]

Q. Was there a temptation to stay for one more Test match at home?

Dravid: "If you make a decision during a series, then I think it is great. I have been part of nice farewellls. But I made my decision now. Just to keep playing for the sake of playing one more match was not right. That's not how I have played the game. The only reason I played a cricket match for India was to try and win a match for India."

typical Dravid

his retirement really hurts for someone like me who started watching cricket since early 90s... end of an era.... just like his batting records / captaincy, even his farewell was so calm...

I sincerely hope Rahul Dravid's records should not go unnoticed... he deserves to be celebrated as a much much better cricketer... .. thanks for your wonderful entertainment for the past 16 years...

I repeat -- Rahul Dravid - the best servant of Indian Cricket I will see forever...

[wizzy]

best writeup on Wall


http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine...ry/556792.html

epecially this quote

Many might call him a defensive batsman in the mould of a Jacques Kallis or a Michael Atherton, but Dravid ranks up there with the great batsmen of the game. To simply refer to him as a defensive player is selling him short as a batsman. He was a wonderfully gifted player and we all enjoyed the way he played the game.

[ajaybaskar]

Dravid's Test debut innings against England way back in June 1996 at Lord's. Then 23, he made a brilliant 95 in swinging conditions.

[Plum]

1. Mixed feelings? Seenu (no longer even the quasi-respectful mama for you ) - there is only one emotion to feel about this - sadness. If you are having mixed feelings, you don't have Indian Cricket's best interests in your mind. Padhaviya innikkE raajinaama paNNu you sc@@@@rel! 2. Retired from domestic cricket means retired from IPL? If yes, Cinefan and Vinod, I urge you to boycott IPL and influence your friends to do so!

[venkkiram]

"We've always had some good battles. He is a very quiet and kind man. I had the good fortune of playing with him at the IPL and he was a man that worked hard on his game. He set high standards for himself and for India. What he has achieved in the game is incredible. He had one of the best techniques in the game and was always a prize wicket to get. The game will be a little poorer without him but I wish him well in his retirement."
South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis

[venkkiram]

My friend in FB :

The ultimate tribute to Rahul Dravid was paid when Steve Waugh chose him over several others to write the foreword for his autobiography.