We would never know whether Rahul Dravid would have gotten his due in the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, for we are not even sure which tag to bestow on the relatively unsung but a vital contributor to the cause of Indian Cricket. Thankfully, he got the numbers or else a nation of hero-worshippers would have forgotten the epitome of the simple common man succeeding with his hard work and determination.


On field, he was a man of little emotions but these three are my most memorable Dravid moments. The animated celebration after getting to his hundred at Kolkata in the second innings of one of the greatest test matches of all times in 2001. He came in at No 6 due to his poor form and Lakshman’s better contribution in the first innings. Rahul answered it with a century as he does not know any other way, and that he owned the No3 position for the major part of his career after that match was a poetic acknowledgement of his class. THAT boundary to win the first test match which as some might go to the extent of calling The Rahul Dravid Test Match in Australia after a long time and his immediate ecstatic reaction to it. It was fitting, that the most famous overseas victory of this decade for India came from the hands of the player who valued it the most. I’m being a bit indulgent in judging my third favorite Dravid moment, as it is to do with my favorite Sachin Tendulkar when he got the wicket of Jacques Kallis in the third test in 2006 at a vital time in the match. Rahul Dravid jumped on to Sachin in joy in what can be termed as one of the most pleasing sights I have ever seen on a cricket field.

A champion of the game who never sledged and got rarely sledged, Dravid played the gentleman’s game in its pristine form like a true gentleman. His devotion to the game though seen majorly through his batting is exemplified by the slip catching, another aspect of the game where Dravid’s artistry and discipline manifest themselves as he caught the ball with both of his hands in a manner that appears almost pious.

Even in the context of the individual games, Dravid’s contributions always meant the team doing well more often than that of others except in the 2011 English tour, because of the fact that the team looked much more assured playing around with him at the other side and certain of a comfort zone. And speaking of comfort zones the man himself never had one as he always was the one who put the interests of the team in front of anything be it opening in test matches or keeping wickets in ODIs.

That Rahul Dravid had to retire in what can be termed as the worst phases on Indian Overseas Test Cricket, a cause for which he has devoted his passionate efforts to, is an irony of Shakespearean proportions, but thanks to him the overseas victory was thought of by a team who were always deemed and doomed to be poor travellers. He was the chief architect along with Ganguly, Lakshman, Tendulkar and Kumble, largely due to whom Indian Test Cricket has been a delight amidst the maddening and threatening Twenty 20 Cricket.

The success of Rahul Dravid is important to the country rather than that of some of his peers like the enormously gifted Tendulkar, classy Lakshman and passionate Ganguly, because the odds they fought against and the pressure they sustained are hugely external and absurd, while Rahul thankfully free from the critical fanatic media eye most of the time, fought the real deals like technique with perseverance and owned it in an emphatic way. His success instills a firm belief in the proletariat(a class which majority of the country belongs) that the desire to succeed and with an honest and resolute effort every single time is what it takes to survive and win regardless of any natural possession.