During one of the India's Test matches against West Indies, a commentator was comparing the Test averages and strike rates of Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid. Consequently, a question was asked as to who'd, a cricket fan, pay to watch batting. Sehwag, declared one of the two all-wise men behind the microphone. But the other wasn't happy with the answer, or so it seemed. He put forth a subsequent question and asked, who would he, the second commentator, like to bat for his LIFE. Rahul Dravid, came the answer rather sheepishly with a nervous smile.
Perhaps, the conversation above best describes the cricketing life and times of Dravid. For the masses his batting was defensive and boring, for he didn't have the flair of a Lara or the audacity of a Sehwag. But every one of them felt assured and believed till the time he was at crease, India were always in the game. For they knew, he wasn't the kind to throw his wicket in a moment of adventurism. Every time he walked up to the wicket to take his stance, he took it as if he was there to fight and save something very precious, as precious as the life and soul of Indian cricket.
In his sixteen years of International Cricket for India, the Dravid's discipline and devotion to the game and the team is unmatched by any other Indian play. He was always there to save the team when needed. So when Ganguly wanted to play a extra batsman in the One Day team, Dravid kept wickets without complaining, and did a decent job of balancing wicket keeping and batting. Similarly when the team was finding it difficult to get a Test opener, he didn't complain to open the innings when asked. For a batsman of his stature, he could've easily declined to do it and nobody would've blamed. But that was not how he played his Cricket. For him the Team and the Indian cap always came first. By the way, on a recent tour of England where Dravid was forced to open batting for India again, he scored a century and carried his bat!
But still, he had always been the unsung hero or, as somebody wrote, child of a lesser God, in the Indian cricket. And it was so right from the very beginning when his 90+ on debut was shadowed by the centurion and fellow debutant, Ganguly. He was perhaps the best Indian batsman of his era, saving and winning matches for his Team, where they were hitherto expected to, before. He'd consistently excel at places where the ball used to get closer to the nose of a batsman than his bat. He was at the forefront of every famous victory India recorded abroad - be it Trent Bridge or Adelaide or Kingston. Such was the way he batted abroad that when India won a famous victory at Adelaide in the 2003/04 season, captain Ganguly stated that Dravid 'batted like Gods', in the post match presentation ceremony. But still somehow, he was never mentioned in the same leagues of his contemporaries legends!
However, it was not just how he batted or played that made Dravid what he was, but it was a combination of lot of things. The way he conducted himself on and off the field could be a lesson for any budding cricketer. He always let his bat do the talking on the field. He was never the one to engage in skirmishes or to respond to a banter by the opposition. For him it was simple. He was there to bat, that is what he would do! Remember that Six of Alan Donald and the incident afterwards! Never did he display his emotions. The only time he got angry would be when he got out a playing a bad shot! Angry on himself that is.
Off the field, Dravid was as sure footed as he was on it. He wasn't the kind that would get into a controversy or a publicity stunt. He was as much the gentleman as he was on field. Very articulate with his interviews, never to put in a wrong word. Who could ever forget the MTV Bakra episode, where a girl acting as a reporter asks him to marry her. His immediate reaction - what's your age? Concentrate on your studies and forget all this marriage and stuff! In fact when a controversy surrounded a run out dismal during the last year's tour of England, it was Dravid, who was sent out to speak to the press.
During the same series Dravid surpassed the great Gavaskar's for the number of Test centuries scored. When a commentator/TV presenter pointed it out and asked for his reaction, Dravid while acknowledging the elation for achieving the feat was quick to add that how he played so many years of cricket and so many Test matches. And having played so much the feats such as the one in the question were bound to happen! As gentle and as humble ever.
Now that Dravid has decided to quit playing, it creates a huge vacuum in not just Indian but International cricket. For years, we have been accustomed to watching our opener get out early in the day only to find Dravid come out to bat and bring our blood pressure back to normal. Will there be another player who'll rise up the ranks to match this colossal of an achiever? I, for one, doubt it. For in this world of T20, where new stars are born and forgotten within a season, where players concentrate on doing stuff other than playing, where players cannot control their instinct to get into skirmishes mistaking for aggression, and where a century is celebrated as a Rock Star performing a encore, there can be many who'll come and play with audacity to excite the masses. But there may not ever come a player who'll please the connoisseur, with his technique, his purity, his discipline and devotion to the game we've all come to love, the way Dravid did.
And just for that, T A K E A B O W, Rahul Sharad Dravid! Your contributions to the world of cricket will be treasured in the hearts of millions of your fans.
For Cricket May Not Be The Gentleman's Game Again; For The Last Gentleman Departs!
Disclaimer - The Author is a self confessed RD admirer and has been one since the past 14 odd years.