Whoever said that public memory is short must have visited India a couple of times before reaching this conclusion. Just a year ago, when India were in South Africa, Mahendra Singh Dhoni was still the best captain India ever had. Dravid was still the ‘WALL’ and Laxman was still known to be Very Very Special’. A year down the line, Dhoni seems to be Villain Number One in the country who can easily replace Gabbar in Sholay.
Rahul Dravid is no longer the Wall. The word going around is that there seems to be a five-and-a-half inch peep hole in the wall now and Laxman from being very very special is now on the verge of getting dropped.
It was one of those days that have become all too common on the Australian tour — gloomy, depressing, demotivating -- as India were rolled over by the Aussies and went on to lose the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 0-4. That raises a lot of questions about the effectiveness of some of the senior players.
Dravid and Laxman have been put under the microscope which, to an extent, is unfair as the entire batting line-up failed to deliver.
Dravid, a man who first stepped into international cricket when unorthodoxy was at its peak with pinch-hitters scoring runs defying the standard shots of cricket. He was head and shoulders above everyone technically and has scored more than 13000 Test runs. Add to that the over-10000 one-day, not to forget the number of catches he has taken in the slips.
When you say 13000 Test runs, one has to pause for a second and understand the magnitude of what it means. Dravid, unlike Tendulkar or Ganguly, was not that gifted. He has maximised his talent through long hours in the nets and hard work, amazing power of concentration and determination. Every time India were staring down the barrel, Dravid stood out like a lotus in the mud or a solitaire among insipid batting.
His brilliant performance over the years have always been overlooked as every time he had taken the ship out of troubled waters, there was somebody who came out and played a classic. We remember the famous Kolkata Test match because of Laxman’s heroics but we forgot that there was one man who gave him able support and scored 180 runs before Harbhajan Singh ran through the Australian side.
India had their backs to the wall in the 1999 World Cup after losing against Zimbabwe. They had to win every match after that to keep their hopes alive and when the moment came, Ganguly stole the show by scoring 183 runs and once again the man at the non- striker’s end was Dravid, who scored 148 in that same match.
Dravid has always been the unsung hero of Indian cricket, be that Adelaide in 2003-04 where he scored a double-century. However, Ajit Agarkar, who grabbed six wickets, stole the limelight. Or in Headingly, where Dravid, Tendulkar and Ganguly all got centuries but it was Dravid who weathered the initial storm.
How can it be that one of the greatest players in the world can go from being the best to be talked about in unceremonious terms?
As and when Dravid takes a call and decides to hang up his boots, the country will lose the greatest No 3 batsman it ever had. The media and the fans will be robbed of the privilege of watching this artist at work; we will mourn that he never got his due, even more so as his exodus from the game would take away the gentlemanliness of the game which the game still tries to potray as its devoted element.
When you reflect at his career, it is a reward for intelligent planning and determined execution, a man who always put a price stag before his wicket, one who bats with the tri-colour and has the hallmark for being remembered as one of the greatest players India has ever produced.
Dravid is the tour-de-force of technique and application and deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the mightiest efforts of Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Steve Waugh, almost all of whom I have seen. His achievements are nothing less than any of these great players and the time has come for each one of us to appreciate his contribution to Indian cricket which spans over a period of 15 years.
Rahul Sharad Dravid was not the product of our system but a product in spite of our system. When the man decides to call it a day, the country will realise what they have lost and with that, probably his importance.
Rahul Dravid is no longer the Wall. The word going around is that there seems to be a five-and-a-half inch peep hole in the wall now and Laxman from being very very special is now on the verge of getting dropped.
It was one of those days that have become all too common on the Australian tour — gloomy, depressing, demotivating -- as India were rolled over by the Aussies and went on to lose the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 0-4. That raises a lot of questions about the effectiveness of some of the senior players.
Dravid and Laxman have been put under the microscope which, to an extent, is unfair as the entire batting line-up failed to deliver.
Dravid, a man who first stepped into international cricket when unorthodoxy was at its peak with pinch-hitters scoring runs defying the standard shots of cricket. He was head and shoulders above everyone technically and has scored more than 13000 Test runs. Add to that the over-10000 one-day, not to forget the number of catches he has taken in the slips.
When you say 13000 Test runs, one has to pause for a second and understand the magnitude of what it means. Dravid, unlike Tendulkar or Ganguly, was not that gifted. He has maximised his talent through long hours in the nets and hard work, amazing power of concentration and determination. Every time India were staring down the barrel, Dravid stood out like a lotus in the mud or a solitaire among insipid batting.
His brilliant performance over the years have always been overlooked as every time he had taken the ship out of troubled waters, there was somebody who came out and played a classic. We remember the famous Kolkata Test match because of Laxman’s heroics but we forgot that there was one man who gave him able support and scored 180 runs before Harbhajan Singh ran through the Australian side.
India had their backs to the wall in the 1999 World Cup after losing against Zimbabwe. They had to win every match after that to keep their hopes alive and when the moment came, Ganguly stole the show by scoring 183 runs and once again the man at the non- striker’s end was Dravid, who scored 148 in that same match.
Dravid has always been the unsung hero of Indian cricket, be that Adelaide in 2003-04 where he scored a double-century. However, Ajit Agarkar, who grabbed six wickets, stole the limelight. Or in Headingly, where Dravid, Tendulkar and Ganguly all got centuries but it was Dravid who weathered the initial storm.
How can it be that one of the greatest players in the world can go from being the best to be talked about in unceremonious terms?
As and when Dravid takes a call and decides to hang up his boots, the country will lose the greatest No 3 batsman it ever had. The media and the fans will be robbed of the privilege of watching this artist at work; we will mourn that he never got his due, even more so as his exodus from the game would take away the gentlemanliness of the game which the game still tries to potray as its devoted element.
When you reflect at his career, it is a reward for intelligent planning and determined execution, a man who always put a price stag before his wicket, one who bats with the tri-colour and has the hallmark for being remembered as one of the greatest players India has ever produced.
Dravid is the tour-de-force of technique and application and deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the mightiest efforts of Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Steve Waugh, almost all of whom I have seen. His achievements are nothing less than any of these great players and the time has come for each one of us to appreciate his contribution to Indian cricket which spans over a period of 15 years.
Rahul Sharad Dravid was not the product of our system but a product in spite of our system. When the man decides to call it a day, the country will realise what they have lost and with that, probably his importance.
