4 underrated innings of Rahul Dravid

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Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, are the trio that shaped Indian cricket. While Sachin and Ganguly get praised for their batting performances and captaincy, Dravid remains unsung although he has done volumes for the growth of cricket in India. A calm and composed player who was selfless throughout his career.

A player like Dravid who has given everything for the betterment of Indian cricket deserves to be celebrated much more. Unfortunately, he wasn’t even given a farewell match which was really unfair to him. Dravid who was highly underrated during his career has played numerous innings which deserves much more praise than it garnered.

We list you 5 such underrated innings of Dravid.

#1 153 vs New Zealand, 2nd ODI, Hyderabad 1999

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After being defeated by New Zealand in the first ODI at Rajkot, the Ganguly-led team was forced to deliver and this match was a perfect comeback for the team. Although this match will be remembered for Sachin’s 186* which remained his best till 2010, Dravid’s knock of 153 was equally good. Winning the toss, Ganguly elected to bat but the captain had an off day as he was dismissed for just 4 runs and the scorecard read 10-1. Yet another wicket falling would have strengthened New Zealand's stronghold but that didn’t happen as Dravid stitched a match-winning partnership of 331 with Sachin.

Both the batsmen crafted the innings very well and gradually accelerated the innings. After being silent for the initial overs, the duo smashed boundaries after crossing the 100-run mark. In fact, it was Dravid who outscored Sachin with boundaries across the ground. Dravid’s knock of 153 came in as many balls with 15 fours and 2 sixes. India scored a mammoth 376/2 at the end of their 50 overs. In reply, New Zealand was bowled out for 202 thus losing to India by 174 runs.