Rahul Dravid: The Great Wall :: A perfect role model for youngsters

"If you can’t get along with Dravid, you are struggling in life."

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Rahul Dravid

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Today's story is about that cricketer, who has established himself although he was under the shadow of Sachin Tendulkar for almost the entire period of his career. Rahul Sharad Dravid - The Wall.

Rahul Dravid was born on January 11, 1973, in Madhya Pradesh, India. He grew up in Bangalore due to his father's job. Basically, he started playing cricket from there. He played age-based cricket for Karnataka.

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If patience had been tested in cricket, there would have been a name come to the first - Rahul Dravid. Proof of that he had played first-class cricket for 5 years before being inducted into the national team. It was the most important feature of him, never give up.

Finally, Dravid was called up to the national team due to his great performance for India's 'A' team. He made his debut in April 1996 against Sri Lanka in the one-day tri-nation tournament between India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. After scoring 3 runs in his debut match, Dravid failed again after being dismissed for 4 runs against Pakistan in the next match.

The moment of his debut in the national team was not a good one for Dravid. The only exception is his Test debut, in which he has reigned supreme in this royal format of cricket. Dravid made his Test debut at Lord's against England in June of the same year. Batting at number seven, he gave a message to reign supreme in international cricket by playing a brilliant inning of 95 runs.

The 1999 and 2003 World Cups
Dravid's position in limited over international cricket was a little bit shaky, even though he had won the title of 'Test Specialist' before the '99 World Cup. Low strike rate, restrictions on shot play, etc. were criticized for various reasons. He got a chance to get rid of all these in the '99 ODI World Cup to be held in England. He became the highest run-scorer of the tournament by scoring 461 runs in 8 matches with about 85 strike rates. The 318-run partnership with Sourav Ganguly for the second wicket against Sri Lanka was a world record at the time.

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Dravid also played one of the key roles in the 2003 World Cup to reach India to the final by scoring 316 runs with the bat. He played in the World Cup as a wicketkeeper-batsman. Dravid picked up the wicketkeeper gloves as well as batting from the idea of ​​playing an extra specialist batsman in that World-Cup. He dismissed about 16 batsmen and became the second-best wicketkeeper of the tournament.

Golden time of career
Dravid spent the golden period of his career from the '99 World Cup to the '07 ODI World Cup. Rahul Dravid's exceptional defensive technique, patience, and hard work made him unique in Cricket. Proof of which is India's tour of England in 2002. Dravid was named Man of the Tournament along with Michael Vaughan, scoring 602 runs at a batting average of 100 per match in the four-match Test series. His 146 on the green pitch in Leeds in the third match of the series was called one of the best innings in history. He picked up the second double century of his career in the same series.

"He’s a pretty good role model for kids. He’s pretty steady in what he does and he does things the right way, and he’s very dedicated. He has a great technique and a great temperament."

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Dravid was more comfortable in Test cricket. He had scored more than 13,000 runs at an average of 53 in 286 innings in 164 matches, including 36 centuries (five of which are double centuries), and the record for having centuries against every Test-playing nation at that time. He also holds the rare record of facing a maximum of 31,256 balls in Test cricket.

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Dravid used to build psychological stress on the opponent's bowlers by breaking bowlers' patience. The title of 'The Wall' was given to him because of protecting the team from any tough situation. Dravid was one of the best 'away' batsmen in India. He could play in parallel inside and outside the subcontinent. His 233 against Australia in the Adelaide Test in December '03, and his impeccable 270 in the Rawalpindi Test on the tour of Pakistan the following year took him to new heights.

End of his cricket Career As a Batsman
Dravid was suddenly called up to the ODI squad for India's tour of England in July 2011. After receiving the call, he announced his retirement from ODI cricket. In the last match of his career, Dravid played an innings of 79 off 69 bowls and made his farewell match memorable. He has amassed 10,888 runs at an average of 40 in his 344 ODI career.

In the year 2011 India was whitewashed by England 4-0 in the Test series. Although the entire batting unit failed, Dravid was the only exception Dravid of '11 seems to have gone back to the evergreen Dravid of '02. Dravid top-scored for India with 481 runs in three centuries in a four-match Test series. He played the last match of his Test career against Australia in January of the following year.

Conclusions

In this way, Dravid has given all of himself for the team, sometimes with the bat, sometimes with gloves. He became 'Mr. Dependable' or 'The Wall' of the team, who never hesitate to stand behind the wicket in the need of the team. He was one of the best fielders of his time. He has captained, overcame criticism with performances. Dravid was a true gentleman and an inspirational cricketer for the next generation.

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	Reference Sites
1	Wikipedia
2	NDTV
3	Hindustantimes
4	Sportskeeda