Rahul Dravid - The man who gave us so many memories without expecting anything in return
The Great Wall of China, it is said, can be viewed from space – such is its edifice. The fortification encloses all of China, making it secure and one of the most impenetrable country in the whole world.
“Oh, God, Dravid is at the crease. Now he will defend all day and won’t get out” – this used to be my childhood reaction whenever Rahul Dravid came to bat. And almost always, I was right; he did bat for the whole day with unreal patience.
His wet jersey, due to excessive sweating, perfectly represented the mental states of the bowlers that bowled to him: drained, perspiring and completely clueless about how to get him out. In the end, it didn’t matter because either he remained not out or, if he did get out, did irreparable damage before leaving the pitch.
Rahul Sharad Dravid is the epitome of class. Had he been born in a different era, Indians would have worshiped him as their God instead of Sachin Tendulkar. When he made his Test debut in 1996, something about him just struck the minds of many. An unorthodox back-lift was coupled with transcendental grace. He never struck the ball, for it would mean that he was being rude towards it. Instead, he kissed it with his bat.
Place and time – these are the two things romantics always keep in mind while weaving a magical moment. And no-one had a better placing and timing awareness like he did. As a result, almost every of his shots were magical. Be it his technically flawless cover drive or pure artistry of a leg glance, it was wizardry at its finest. At his best, even time and space seemed to be at his command and abide by the movements of his bat.
No player could defend against late-swings like he could—he could play as late as possible and carve out some mesmerizing strokes and tire the life out of bowlers. He was the epitome of patience and perseverance. He was the faith of fans, he was the ultimate purist.
Recalling Dravid's most memorable unorthodox knock
The most memorable innings by Dravid, for me would be his 22-ball 50 in the ODI game against New Zealand – it was something different from the usual Dravid. He was ruthless, he was wrathful and he spit it against the Kiwi bowlers. The one thing people always said about him was that he couldn’t be aggressive, that he could only defend. That day, I saw him prove everyone – including me – wrong.
When he came to bat, India were in a commanding position at 284/4 after 44.1 overs. I clearly remember groaning that India wouldn’t get more than 320 runs. But here was Dravid, marching in like a warrior and showing the world what technical hitting meant, which got India over the 350 run mark.
Each and every ball that he struck was special. Before that game, I genuinely believed that he couldn’t hit sixes. That day, he busted that myth because not only could he smack them over the boundary, he could do it with utmost grace.
Dravid plays best when the team needs him the most
His Test prowess needs no extra evidence to prove its greatness. He is the only player to score 4 centuries in 4 consecutive innings in Test cricket – a period of time when getting him out was harder than counting the number of hair on Marouane Fellaini’s head.
What made him so special was his ability to save – and win – games from almost impossible scenarios. While Tendulkar beats him in all almost every stat, Dravid was, in his own way, superior to even the Little Master as his importance to the team goes beyond the realms of statistical assessments.
Limelight, it seems, was never for Dravid. Almost all of his greatest knocks were overshadowed by someone else’s in the same game. Everyone remembers India’s triumph against Australia in Calcutta for Laxman’s incredible 281, but if it weren’t for Rahul Dravid’s 180, India would never have won the game.
The fact that he got those runs while batting at number 6 and after being in an enormous amount of pressure due to his failures in the past few matches makes this innings a legendary one. Only Rahul Dravid can hold the strings together when forming a huge partnership.
His knock of 148 that helped India win their first Test on English soil in 16 years in 2002, an epic pair of 233 and 72* in Adelaide that allowed India to register their first win in Australia for 23 years in 2003, his best score of 270 in 2004 the following year to give them a win in Pakistan for the first time in 15 years (he batted 12 hours in that game, becoming the Indian with the most amount of time spent batting).
The pattern is there to be seen. In each of India’s foreign triumphs, Dravid played the biggest hand. At times, he struggled, but he persevered – by God, he did. He brought out every defensive technique in his book to stay on the pitch and win games for his team. It was majestic, for there was none other who could do what he did.
Dravid’s ultimate compliment
“The biggest nightmare I ever faced was Rahul Dravid. He used to bore me. He was the first batsman who could intimidate me in terms of when he walked in, I knew I would have to field for at least two more sessions,” was Shoaib Akhtar’s opinion on the Wall – and no-one could have described it better.
He was the Great Wall of India; a wall that will be visible not only from space but also in a different time for Rahul Dravid’s name will echo in eternity.