Rahul ‘The Wall’ Dravid has quietly taken up the task of coaching India A and U19 teams. He will hone the mental skills of these budding cricketers as they rise up to the international level.
Dravid is not only a hero, he has been a silent guardian, a watchful protector, the Dark Knight.
Truly the most trusted partner
Analysts, critics and fans talked and wrote about the runs he scored, the determination and the grit that he showed, but very few talk about how instrumental he was in building up many great innings by other Indian batsmen.
Sourav Ganguly’s great World Cup knock against Sri Lanka at Taunton (183) featured oft-overlooked support from Rahul, who had a clean knock of 145.
His debut started with a knock of 95 which again supported Ganguly and marked the entry of these two greats in the international arena. Who can forget the brilliant 180 in Kolkata Test against the Aussies in 2001 where VVS Laxman scored 281. Or in another one day against New Zealand where Sachin scored 186 not, where Dravid also scored 153.
None of these great knocks would have been possible without Dravid. There has there has to be a number two for someone to become number one.
Dravid has been involved in more partnerships (738) and more partnership runs (32,039) than any other batsman in Test cricket history. He also has more hundred-run partnerships and more fifty-run partnerships than any other batsman – 88 and 126 respectively. He is the only international cricketer to have staged 10 or more partnerships of 100 runs with four different batsmen.
Successful Indian captains
Ganguly is regarded as one of India’s best captains with 21 Test wins. In these 21 matches, Dravid piled up an astonishing 2571 runs at a record average of 102.84. These 21 matches had nine hundreds (including three double-hundreds). Ganguly as a captain would surely not have been successful without Rahul.
Reason for a captain to have flexible batting order
Many applaud and respect Dravid for agreeing to keep wickets under Sourav, which gave the Indian captain flexibility of playing an extra batsman. Not many know that he is one of the few cricketers to have played at all batting positions with success.
ODIs
(Batting Position – runs – average)
1 – 191 – 27.29
2 – 595 – 45.77
3 – 4000 – 38.83
4 – 3301 – 36.27
5 – 2459 – 43.91
6 – 306 – 51
Tests
(Batting Position – Runs – average)
1 – 72 – 24
2 – 735 – 45.94
3 – 10524 – 52.1
4 – 957 – 53.17
5 – 308 – 38.5
6 – 413 – 68.83
7 – 279 – 69.75
Rahul was the most difficult batsman to get out. He has faced more deliveries than any other batsman in Test cricket – 31,528 balls compared to Tendulkar’s 28,948, and Dravid played for seven fewer years, and 30 fewer matches than Sachin!
Classical (and adaptive/aggressive) batting
Often criticized for his slow run rate, Dravid was one of the first cricketers in the late 1990s to start aggressive batting (as a few might like) in the gloomy batting line up of Indian team.
Whether it be the tour of New Zealand in 1999 (highest and top scorer in both Test and ODIs) or the World Cup of 1999 (top scorer, average 65 and strike rate of 86 – pretty good in that era) he was the only Indian to score briskly or show some batting mastery.
His overall strike might not look as majestic as that of a modern-day batsman, but he provided acceleration when required and proved vital in finishing many matches. In fact he was even better than the master Tendulkar. It marked a change in Indian batting during the World Cup and post that.
The silent, consistent performer
While batsmen came and went, Dravid was always there scoring his runs, silently taking all those catches (he holds the record for most catches by a non-keeper in Test matches – 210) and bringing calmness to the Indian dressing room.
Among the batsmen who have scored more than 10,000 runs in Test cricket, Dravid has been dismissed for a duck the least number of times – eight. Steve Waugh, who has scored 10,927 runs, has been dismissed for a duck the most number of times – 22.
Dravid is the only batsman to have scored a century against all Test-playing nations. He also has the record of not being dismissed for a duck for the most number of consecutive ODI matches (120).
Today again, as some of his ex team mates have opted for a more glorious role, Rahul has preferred to stay behind the scenes and work with the base, ensuring that the roots of Indian cricket stay strong as ever.
I will continue missing his cover drives, with the big stride forward, and the prettiest of them all – the whip through midwicket which he played so late and while doing so managed to stay nimble on his toes.
Thank you Jammy for the memories!
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