Rahul Dravid: The guy who relished ‘overshadowed’ conditions

Rahul Dravid shone through in everything he did

As the old Malayalam adage goes - what is born out of fire will not wither away in the sun.

Hiking into dried up and grimy battlefields under the scorching sun in the sub continent has been a routine walk in the park for all legendary batsmen India had produced till date. The imaginary line, Tropic of Cancer runs through the heart of India, and rightly so they were born out of fire. No visitor from the West, the East, the North or Down Under could wither us away. They, eventually, had to bit the red dust. Well, if they triumphed to spoil our legacy once a while, blame it on the sun that failed to reach its zenith at the Tropic of Cancer.

The ‘Warriors of Sun-Light’ but lost the sheen during their sojourns to meadows of the West. Clouds up above are heavy and dark. Cold breeze twirls the air with dampness. The red ball waggles around and zip past the warriors’ willow untamed. Embarrassment gives way to numbness. Fire won’t help, they realised. The pantheon of cricket Lords described it as ‘overcast conditions’.

The brashness and belligerence of the warriors welded under the sun was found rusty, hence none of them savoured the overcast or ‘overshadowed’ conditions of the West, in particular. One among them, who was presumably inducted late into the Indian squad, however possessed in his blood the natural remedy to cure the cold feet. The guy who relished overshadowed conditions, Rahul Dravid.

Rahul Dravid characterised the gentleness of a breeze that blew across the cricket field than the chillness of it biting hard at your arthritic ligaments. In the early mornings of Test cricket, when the dressing room is as foggy as the weather outside off incapacitated regiment with little left in the kit, he strolls down to endure the first few hours of whirlwind created by swinging and swaying red ball around the middle and off stump. Only then, his co-sergeants ever indulged in the croons of little morning birds, which had perched upon the surrounding trees wishing a good day.

Dravid’s predilection for overcast conditions has to be seen as innate. He excelled in alien conditions though he was overshadowed many an occasion. A mesmerising debut just fell short off as brilliant a debut as his fellow mate Ganguly’s. His valiant efforts to successfully stack up more runs than any batsmen in the 1999 World Cup held in England was flushed down with the sewage of team’s failure to cross the threshold of the knockout stage. When Ganguly molested Sri Lanka at Taunton, Dravid galloped to another chivalrous ODI ton. However, the molestation found headlines over chivalry. Another remarkable instance was, when Sachin scored his highest one day score against New Zealand in Hyderabad, the other end was gallantly guarded by Dravid. Dravid co-authored the historic win along with VVS Laxman at Eden Gardens against the mighty Australians. His innings was as special as Laxman’s very- very special innings. Time and again he was eclipsed and overshadowed by his teammates. His countrymen honoured him the medal of “unsung hero”. Probably, he was gifted to shine bright amidst the dark and mysterious shadows.

When the country idolised the Little Master, Dravid was content and happy about the role of second fiddle he had to play, and that he was a master at it. He once said, “The talk is always about Sachin and in some ways it suits me as I get away quietly scoring a lot of runs”. His mysticism with murky shadows enabled him to don a golden halo during many such overshadowed conditions. He went unmentioned but he was never forgotten and desecrated. His presence was felt. He was like a crescent of sun glowing behind the greyish clouds of ambiguity. As long as he was there, there was hope. Hope to preserve the tribe’s pride, its legacy. He was a true ‘Warrior of Light’.

Dravid is a refined personality fine tuned with qualities of civility and elegance. He is an avid reader and a continuous learner. Although he picked books to take his mind off the game initially, his habit of reading shaped him into a rare breed of a sportsman, who is no non-sense, eventually. Reading makes a man complete. So was he. His thoughts spread so vast, his perspectives so estimable.

Former Indian coach John Wright in his book Indian Summers mentions of the debacle the team confronted when Dravid abruptly declared Indian innings against Pakistan at Multan. Sachin Tendulkar was batting on 194; hence there was a “hot potato in their hands”.

Before the situation got worse, when Tendulkar felt let down, Dravid had the audacity to chat over the matter with the little master. Had it not been Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, the issue would have snowballed and created a rift in the team. Wright, rightly said “Dravid, like his batting is a combination of steeliness and serenity”. He envisions the bigger picture of an issue. Nothing fazes him, nothing overcasts his head. He stands tall, head straight just as he would face Alan Donald on a Durban turf.

Dravid’s latest fame to glory too sprouted out off overcast conditions within his IPL franchise, Rajasthan Royals. A man of integrity and self-respect was least deterred when a few of his trusted teammates betrayed him. For a cricketer who played the game with dignity above anything else, loyalty of team members is not too much of an asking. The reputation of his franchise was overshadowed by corruption, dishonesty and infidelity. Dravid’s equanimity ‘power-played’ all adversities. He found opportunities in overcast conditions. He majestically led his team to the coveted platform of Champions League grand finale.

As he left the field for one final time, the cricketing fraternity felt ‘the gentleness of a breeze that blew across the cricket field than the chillness of it biting hard at your arthritic ligaments’. He simply relished the ‘overshadowed’ conditions.