He was calm,composed,spirited... name it any, he had all the qualities a Good cricketer needs. The wall wasn't built in a single day, It was built brick by brick,stone by stone..and cemented together by his passion towards the game. He is not just a Test cricketer,he can blaze off the bowlers and can be their night mare when it is needed but the team mostly requires him to be calm. At no.3 it is important that he plays exactly the way he usually does. He can be aggressive too,which he has shown in IPL. I'm happy we can at least see him in next IPL.
I would say his retirement and his motive behind it was one of the brick which completed the wall and did not break it down. There can be another Dhoni,another Ganguly another VVS , even another sachin can come up. But there will be only ONE RAHUL DRAVID. He is a perfect example of how a batsmen should be. He poised his batting like how he is..Calm,steady,passionate. He had a perfect stance with his back lift going to the fine leg which i don't see in modern day cricketers, and which was one of the things they used to teach us when we were young. Shoulders facing the bowler, giving him the perfect balance. It was a pleasure to watch him bat. I wonder how he has managed to do the same things for years. Stepping on to the field with pride..passion of representing our country which is shown clearly with the way he bats. He picks his shots very carefully like each innings is his first.Being in the same era of sachin tendulkar and still getting his share of praise is something unimaginable.People say "When going gets tough, Tough gets going..." When all the other players failed,he used to be the one player who just got going.Especially in foreign soil.
He was a legend in making from the word GO! .. Century at the Home of cricket on his debut,couldn't have started his career better. With his bat, he has always been the one person who keeps reminding people what real cricket is all about . There may be lot of critics against him,but no one can deny the fact that he is a delight to watch on his day. As a young kid,i have always looked up to him. His passion and commitment towards the game has always been a quality to be admired. He was at his best at No.3, one of the worlds best at that position. But when the team needed a opener he was the one who stepped up. But what impressed me the most is..when the team needed a quality wicketkeeper he stepped up. Being a cricketer i know what it takes to be a Wicket keeper. Standing behind the stumps for 50 overs and again batting for another 20-30 overs is no joke. He did it for the team. A perfect team man i would say.
With No disrespect to the likes of Sachin,Ganguly or VVS..Rahul has done what many cricketer's wouldn't have done.He has stepped down to leave way to the youngsters. Yes, i would love to see him play in test cricket,he could have played another year. But he din't want to be a wall to a young kid's dream of playing for India. Which has made me love him more.Like a new feather added to his cap. I would say this brick has completed the wall. The player of his stature deserves a testimonial match and a sendoff like how lara got.We would wish he had retired after a match so that we could give him a grand send off. But he had other thoughts. When asked about that he replied "if i decide to retire after a match.. i had to play well for my sake to earn the respect while i leave the game... but i always wanted to play as team man for the team". This proves what kind of human he is.#TakeABowSon.
He was a reliable fielder at the slip,210 catches is not a joke.
"We will miss you Rahul " The Square cut(the sound your square cut used to make..is a pleasure to hear), The Cover drive,the pull shot..we will miss everything. Take a bow son. India is lucky enough to have this gentlemen play for us.
Some of his jaw dropping stats :
* 1999: Ceat Cricketer of the 1999 World Cup
* 2000: Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2000
* 2004: Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy Winner (Awarded for ICC Player of the Year)
* 2004: Padma Shri
* 2004: ICC Test Player of The Year, MTV Youth Icon of the Year for 2004
* 2006: Captain of the ICC's Test Team
* 2011: NDTV Indian of the Year's Lifetime Achievement Award with Dev Anand
* His remarkable fitness allowed him to play 93 consecutive Tests from his . debut to December 2005
* As a captain Dravid had mixed success; he led India in 25 Tests, winning eight and losing six. Under him India cemented a newly won reputation for being good travellers, winning Test series in Pakistan in 2003-04 - he captained in two out of three Tests - West Indies in 2006 and in England in 2007
* 1 in highest no. of catches(210)
* 2 of highest run getters in Tests,
* 4 in The list of highest Test centuries
* involved in 88 Test century partnerships
* four centuries in four consecutive innings,
* scored 23%of The Total Team runs with an avg of 102.82 in The 21 Tests won by INDIA under GANGULY's captaincy,
* involved in a record parTnership of 410 runs with sehwag vs pakistan
* Faced highest no.of deliveries[31082]in Test cricket,
* 2nd in highest no.of fifties.
P.S : Im not an expert , Everybody is entitiled to their own views,so am i..
i have just put up my views. Comments are welcome :)
P.S : Im not an expert , Everybody is entitiled to their own views,so am i..
i have just put up my views. Comments are welcome :)
Hi, A Good article from a loving fan..I was looking for some reference and wanted to spend some time to browse abt him, but you gave a glimse of all abt him.Good One.
@diwakar anna : Thanks :)