A Batsman Par Excellence

                                                 

Dravid can be given a lot of names, a batsman par excellence or even one of the most methodical batmen India has seen, however it can be safely said that he is the last classical batsman to have played the Tests for India.

As I see it, the days of the classical defense and the sweetly timed cover drive which goes along the ground all the way to the boundary. However, with the advent of T20s or for that matter even one-dayers, the selections of genuine ‘classical’ batsmen has more or less finished. These days all you can see are players who just go ‘Wam Bam, Thank You Mam’ to their next ad shoot. However, it is important to know that cricket matches, especially Test matches cannot be won with such an attitude towards batting.

This is the part, where Dravid comes in a batsman who can dominate the innings single handedly, not with high sixes and a fake aggressive batting style, but a steady and clam approach, where you hit the gaps, block or leave the good balls and attack the loose deliveries. We have seen Dravid do this many times. But, that one innings that stands out, in my opinion, would have to be his match saving innings, which ultimately turned into a match winning one. I am talking about his 233 in the first innings.

The scene was set when Australia won the toss and elected to bat. Ponting with swashbuckling innings of 242 runs pummeled India into the jaws of defeat in Australia’s first innings itself, helping Australia post a mammoth score of 556. Staring at the possibility of a follow on or even an innings defeat, India started their batting, Sehwag and Akash Chopra gave a good start, however, both of them got out in quick succession, followed by Sachin and then Ganguly leaving the team in a precarious situation, with the score at 85-4.

With the Indian batting line up on the verge of a near collapse, the Indian innings was recovered by Dravid and Laxman in a partnership of 303. What that batsmanship showed us was nothing but the power of ‘classical’ batting at its best, Pure and steady. Dravid started out defending the good ones and hitting the loose ones in the gaps and rotating the strike, utilizing the huge diameter of the Adelaide ground to the fullest, converting the ones into twos and the twos into threes. In the process pilling up runs and frustrating the Australian bowlers to no end. Laxman got out after scoring a commendable 148. But Dravid carried the ship forward, building partnerships with Parthiv patel, the last recognized batsman in the eleven and then continuing to play till the last wicket, when he perished in an attempt to whack a Gillespie delivery out of the park.

In the end, India went on to post a total of 523. Australia’s second innings was wrapped up pretty quickly with the heroics of Ajit Agarkar with the ball. With a total of 233 to chase, india again had to turn to Dravid and deliver he did.  Dravid with a 72 not out, guided India to victory, proving that he indeed was a Wall, letting nothing go through.

However, personally what would always kindle in my mind would always be the tenaciousness and the grittiness with which Dravid played out the first innings. The temperament and the overall calmness with which he lead the lower middle order or the way he coordinated with laxman in building a solid partnership or even his ability to bat with tail-enders. In the end, All that this innings proved was nothing but the importance of a ‘classical’ cricketer to every team.

You may have the biggest hitter in the game or the most aggressive batsman, but what matters in the end is the tenacity and the stubbornness to play out the entire day and above all play for the team. This is what makes a ‘classical batsman’ and this what Rahul Dravid really is.

Some of his achievements...

There are some sports personalities ranging from  Andre Agassi, Bjorn Borg to Steve Waugh who have defied the adversity and champions of the time to emerge as Champions themselves. These players have made the sporting arena all the more beautiful and competitive. For me Rahul Dravid is one of these players who have adorned the sports with performances and impeccable persona. In this aura when indiscipline and hooliganism are the order of the sporting world Rahul Dravid has restored cricket as a gentleman’s game.

Summary of his Achievements :

1. Dravid is the only player from India to have scored 5 double hundreds in test cricket.
2. He had played 94 consecutive test matches after his debut, without missing even a single test match, which is a record, which is a tribute to the fitness levels he has maintained over a period of time.
3. Dravid has scored two hundreds in each innings of a test match twice.
4. He has scored hundreds in 5 consecutive test matches.
5. He was crowned ICC Player of the year 2004.
6. Rahul is one of only 3 Indian batsmen to have scored 10,000 runs in test cricket (the other two being Sachin Tendulkar & Sunil Gavaskar).
7. Rahul Dravid has the highest number of catches in test cricket.
8. Rahul Dravid averages more in test cricket away than at home.

Obvious facts Going Unnoticed..

It is quite obvious that Sir Don Bradman is the greatest batsman that this world has produced. He thought Sachin Tendulkar as someone who could match up with his batting style, and someone in whom he sees himself.

There are some facts which still remain true but obscure.  But let me provide an example of as why I termed the title of my article “The Unsung Hero". According to a recent study, Rahul Dravid surpassed Sachin Tendulkar, in terms of value of runs scored to his team. Virender Sehwag was on top, when it comes to Indian batsmen, followed by Rahul and then Sachin! Everyone goes on about how Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest, but this statistics proved the selfless achievements of Rahul Dravid, who truly was an Unsung hero.

The statistics are based upon factors like consistency maintained in the pattern of scoring, home-away record and value of the overall runs scored by the batsman and his contribution. Sir Don Bradman topped the list and there is no surprise in it! Other statistics show that just five Indian batsmen managed to mark their presence in the top 50 batsmen!

Sachin Tendulkar, who is applauded as the highest run scorer, topped these Indian batsmen in NONE of the areas.
Okay, let us talk about the aspects now. When it comes to adding value of runs and providing ample scores in the scorecard, Sehwag topped, Rahul is next and then comes Sachin! Let us talk about another instance. Rahul Dravid is called Mr. Consistent and this has been proved as he topped Sachin, followed by Gavaskar, and then comes Sehwag.
When it comes to contributing in the overall performance of the team, Rahul and Gavaskar shared their slots (top amongst Indian batsmen), and followed by Sachin and Sehwag.
The study is a part of “The paper – The ‘Bradman Class’: An Exploration of Some Issues in the Evaluation of Batsmen for Test Matches, 1877-2006 – ranks 50 batsmen from all eras.”

                                                              Dravid- The Ultimate Team man

John Wright in his book Indian summers mentions the fact of how Sachin was not very sure and keen on batting at No 4 for India though it helped the team balance during the Natwest series in England. I personally feel that was the right thing to do on Sachin’s part since it helped him bring out the best in him. But the problem with this was Sehwag who was in a brilliant form himself or for that matter Ganguly who gave the much preferred Left hand right hand opening combination at the top had to move down the order.  Another problem was, the stability of the middle order had to revolve around Sachin but since he wanted to go on top of the order the whole team balance was ruined. I guess that is the difference between Sachin and Dravid. Though numbers speak volumes about Sachin as a batsman there are a lot of other aspects to cricket than just batting.  Team success is a more important factor than personal glory.

World cup 2003 is an instance where a lot is been spoken about Sachin’s dominance over all the attacks but the right balance to the team was provided by Dravid by going down the order and also taking up the role of a wicket keeper which helped the team bring in that one extra batsmen and eventually it ended up in India reaching the final of the World cup.

Well it is funny in a way that twenty years down the line it is easy for people to remember an Individual record than say a test series win in England after twenty years.  Many cricketing prodigies can only dream of what he has done for the Indian cricket, fighting it out all day long in so many matches and bringing glory to his nation! He’s always been selfless and made sure that his bat does all the talking. The only thing that he has probably lacked in his career would be a good PR agent who would have made him more recognizable in terms of performance and not go unnoticed all the time. Lack of acknowledgement never de-motivated him! He has still maintained that selfless approach towards life and his love – Cricket! No matter the selectors pick him or drop him, he will continue making contributions in the Indian cricket with his selfless, yet (intentionally) unnoticed efforts!

I would end this by quoting what Shane Warne mentioned about Dravid ““The fortress could also describe Rahul. Because once, Dravid was set, you needed the bowling equivalent to a dozen cannons firing all at once to blast him down.”

Debut

                                                           

June 20^th 1996 the day when India played England at Lords is always remembered as Saurav Ganguly’s debut,  the reason being Dada going on to make a century on debut.  But what has been forgotten is one more batsman making a debut alongside Ganguly, who went on to score 95 and fell short by 5 runs on what could have been a memorable debut. That player was Rahul Sharad Dravid.

Such has been the situation ever since his test debut. 

Fate has always played tricks with him and the introvert never got his due. His marathon innings of 180 against Australia in kolkatta in 2001 has been overshadowed by Laxman’s epic 281.

Sachin’s highest score for a long time was 186 against New Zealand  at Hyderabad what people do not remember is the same match Dravid scored a 153.

The highest ever partnership in World cups is 318 between Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. Dravid went on to score 152 in that match but this was again overshadowed by Ganguly’s 183.  

Although Dravid contributed 128 in a record partnership of 410 for the first wicket in Lahore against Pakistan, the match is still remembered for Sehwag’s 254.

There are several such circumstances where other people in the team have hogged the limelight where as Dravid has always been the second best. When it comes to Tests there is no doubt in my mind that he is the best Test batsman India has seen. Maybe people might hate my blog after this but taking performance and match winning innings into consideration he is a better batsman than Sachin. The Averages of both these players are more or less the same but what Sachin had to his advantage is the amount of years he has played which has ended up in him having much more runs than Dravid in tests. Dravid has proved himself in all sorts of conditions and his overseas record speaks a lot about how technically correct he is in comparison to other batsmen in the team, Sachin included.

Sachin may be one of the greatest batsmen the game has ever seen but people need to open their eyes and start appreciating and respecting other gods of cricket.