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| Rahul 'The Wall' Dravid |
Views : 829 |
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| 1st August, 2011. |
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Indian Test Cricket started in 1932. Since then India has given many greats to the world cricket. And Rahul Sharad Dravid truely deserves his place among them.
Rahul Dravid made his debut in 1996, just after the world cup when he played against Sri Lanka replacing Kambli into the ODI squad. But it was England's tough tour where Dravid's talent was to be tested. He made his test debut in the 2nd test at Lord's. And he grabbed this golden chance with ease by making superb 95 runs. In next test he scored 84. It was the entry of a boy who looked very promising in his firstever test series. He followed this walk in South Africa tour by making his debut century (148) at Joburg against the very fine bowling attack.
The first fine performance of Dravid came in Sahara Cup against Pakistan in 1997 where he scored fine 90 runs in his overall10th ODI. Then on this man never looked back again and went on to score many more runs in both formats of the game. Dravid was the highest run scorer(461) in World Cup 1999. Though people always used to say that Dravid does not fit into ODI format but if you look at his following stats in ODI, you would imagine how valuable he is in ODIs also:
1. Second fastest fifty for India (22 balls)
2. Only Indian to hit 2 back-to-back hundreds in WC
3. Only 3rd Indian & 6th in World to make 10000 runs
4. Involved in two 300+ partnerships (only player)
His ODI average is 42.50, which shows the signs of a great One Day player.
In tests, Dravid is the backbone of Indian team. His strong technique,great patience and beautiful footwork makes him the perfect in tests. Who can forget his great innings like 180 at Eden Garden against aussies, match saving brilliant inns of 87 in Port Elizabeth, match winning 148 on really seamer-friendly pitch of Leeds, 233* against australia at Adelaide Oval, superb 270 against Pakistan in Rawalpindi. Rahul Dravid actually emerged out of Sachin's shadow in 2002 and established himself as a premiere test batsman. In 2002 season he scored four consecutive test hundreds against Eng (3) & West Indies (1). He was Man Of The Series in England tour. In a very next season he scored 3 double tons, one against each NZ, Aus, Pak. Dravid led India to its first test win in pakistan in the famous Multan test.
Dravid is one of the few Indians who averages more in away tests than home. His overseas test average is 55.53 and home average 50.76. His test avg since 2000 is 63.51. Really great achievement it is! Under the captaincy of Ganguly, India won 21 tests & Dravid left a remarkable impact in every win by scoring at an average of 102.84 & made huge 2571 runs with 9 hundreds, 10 fifties in overall 32 innings. It means nearly 23% of total runs scored by Dravid in these 21 wins. He had 80 century partnerships with 18 different partners & has been involved in 19 century partnerships with Sachin throughout his career, which is a record!
Rahul Dravid is hailed as THE WALL by his team-mates due to his great defence while batting. Now Dravid has got the second highest test runs and he also holds the record of most test catches taken by any player. He has made overall 33 test centuries & out of these, India lost on two occasions only.
After completing 10,000 test runs Dravid quoted, "It's a proud moment for sure, For me, growing up, I dreamt of playing for India. When I look back, I probably exceeded my expactations with what I have done over the last 10-12 years. I never had an ambition to do, it become, I never believed- it is just a reflection of my longevity in the game."
This shows Dravid's humbleness, greatness being a true legend. Rahul Dravid has given a huge amount of contribution to the Indian Cricket. He really deserves to be among the greatest test cricketers of all time in the world.
Let's hope this wonderful journey a true gentleman cricketer keeps going for many more upcoming years.
Written by : Mayoor Vibhandik
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