Rahul Dravid: redefining the IPL

Rajasthan Royals captain Rahul Dravid has led his team within playoff contention, with some consistent performances. (Getty Images)

The IPL is now in top gear, with teams battling it out to bulldoze their way into the top four and make it to the playoffs. With cut throat competition, it is certainly a rat race out there. The cap on the number of foreigners per team is pricking indeed, but if it were to be relaxed, teams would be more than happy, for it would work a long way in bolstering their balance.

In the past, teams have appealed to the Governing council about the cap on the number of foreign players they can field, but the council hasn’t budged yet. The sole motive behind the rule is that the IPL is a breeding ground for youngsters; a platform to prove their mettle and a springboard to the national squad. The IPL was introduced with this being one of the motives, along with the big fat bounty of course.

While every franchise is busy permuting the four foreign players scrupulously, there is one franchisee which has reiterated its belief on its local players time and again; accentuating the fact that the IPL is the Indian Premier League and Indians are ought to reap the benefits. The man behind it is a gentleman. He had the audacity to go on air saying results were secondary and the grooming of the youngsters is primary. This man doesn’t talk often, but when he does, he is articulate, very much like the way he bats. His defence has been impeccable, and so has been his leadership, immaculate. He is the self-effacing Rahul Dravid, the lynchpin of Rajasthan Royals.

Names like Ajit Chandila and Sanju Samson have made it big this season, like Ravichandran Ashwin did three seasons ago. All these youngsters needed were the belief and confidence of a veteran, role model and leader who would back them and last but not least, a friend who would put his arms around their shoulders and incite them to their best. Dravid donned every role with panache. To him, the future of his nation came mattered the most, than the lucrative bounty and fame the cup would fetch him. His fervent efforts to nurture the young talents, expose them to world class cricket and lay out a future for them have been a masterstroke, akin to his cover drive. He reposed his faith on the new names and it has paid off. Rajasthan royals are certainly punching above their weight and their rookies are playing a part in it.

The fact that he doesn’t have a fixed batting spot for him is a testimony to his selfless being. He keeps shuffling back and forth as the game demands, doesn’t shy to open the innings or bat at no.6 and tweaks his style accordingly. Not every batsman possess the attribute of playing at any spot, even the mighty lord fumbles and stays put to his opening spot.

He kept wickets to accommodate that extra batsman, he led the team when the other seniors shirked captaincy, he opened when the conditions were tough and it needed someone adept at the trade, he was dropped from the ODIs and picked again when the team looked miserable, all this underline the fact that he has been an indispensable unit of the team. He was the lever, the fulcrum around which the team the plied and whenever the team was crippled, he was the crutch.

Dravid captaincy has been unorthodox to say the least, but it has worked wonders. (IANS Photos)

Jettisoned by the Royal Challenger’s Bangalore – a preposterous decision by RCB – he was unfazed and set about his trade leading Rajasthan Royals. They are studded with big hitters, yet, when the big names are punctured they deflate and fall flat. Rahul Dravid would have been the stepney they are in dire need of. Such myopic decisions could have led to the crashes the famous airlines are under. His team selection for the inaugural IPL was derided and ridiculed to be a Test team. However in the second season, when the IPL was moved to South Africa, when cricket took the driver’s seat, they were a force to reckon with and emerged the runners up. His obsession with quality cricketers might be too costly a theory for the business men. Having moved to Rajasthan Royals, he has been their lynchpin and has been sound with the bat. He doesn’t strike barrage of sixes, yet he provides the stability at the top, a goldmine for a T20 match. If he calls it quit next season, it would put RR in an egregious state, such is his role in the team today. He anchors the innings and the rest of them, the pinch hitters, bat around him. Something Tendulkar himself has failed to do this season.

His sagacious and shrewd cricketing brains have shown its head over the due course. His field setting to nab Tendulkar was a master move. He is misconstrued to be a defensive captain, apparent from the way he conducts himself. Aggression to him lies in his diligent methods on field and his tenacious effort on the crease. As Mathew Hayden famously put it, aggression is something you find in Dravid’s eyes. However, he is being censured for his defensive ploy while captaining the national side. Amid all the flak, detractors forget that he lead the team to away victories in England and West Indies, and the overall record under his captaincy was above average.

The gentleman he is, he took the entire responsibility/blame for the dismal show in the 07 WC and that acted as a deterrent in calling for his head. His fortitude came to the fore in the game against Sri Lanka in the 07 WC, the game that knocked out India and a million dreams from the tournament. When wickets were tumbling at the other end, Dravid dug in, got into the thick of things and tried his hand at steadying the sinking ship, an art he has mastered over the years. At the fall of every wicket, the disgruntlement in his face was visible. He struck four boundaries in a Lasith Malinga over and somehow the target seemed mountable. Yet, the tides were too high and a million dreams sunk. He was by far, one of the most successful captains. He led by example, with a sense of dignity and pride. At the first talks about his captaincy, he stepped down. The gentleman’s ego was intact.

He has been the cause for the limelight, yet, he shirks in it. He is the backstage performer, whose presence is inexplicably indispensable. When it comes to joyous occasions, he steps aside, letting the team steal the thunder, yet when it came to criticism or failure, he stood in front and absorbed the blow.

Today, at 40 he leads a side by example. His sole intention is to aid the younger generation in honing their skills and in turn serve the nation. He has redefined the IPL with his leadership as well as his batting. He has done it in his own inimitable and impeccable style. He has been denied the plaudits and that has undeterred him. He sets about his trade like a gentleman does with his vision only on the task at hand. Hats off Rahul Sharad Dravid, you are the true Mr. Cricket.