Just another day in Dravid's life - Rahul Dravid -What a Player….

Cricket may be useless game for someone…but we can extract good from any thing and any where….he is rock solid in his character and his batting too….

 

My Fancy & lovable Cricketer… I like him for his consistency, Handwork, positivity and his strong (Yogic) Character…..

 

What a Player….A truly professional …Gentlemen….

 

Dravid !!!!!

 

We miss you from one format of the Game…

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Rahul Dravid      

India

Full name Rahul Sharad Dravid

Born January 11, 1973, Indore, Madhya Pradesh

Current age 38 years 249 days

Major teams India, Scotland, Asia XI, ICC World XI, Karnataka, Kent, Marylebone Cricket Club, Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore

Nickname The Wall

Playing role Top-order batsman

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Right-arm offbreak

Fielding position Occasional wicketkeeper

Education St. Joseph's Boys' High School

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	157	273	32	12775	270	53.00	30090	42.45	35	60	1602	19	207	0
ODIs	344	318	40	10889	153	39.16	15284	71.24	12	83	950	42	196	14
T20Is	1	1	0	31	31	31.00	21	147.61	0	0	0	3	0	0
First-class	291	484	67	23281	270	55.82			67	114			350	1
List A	449	416	55	15271	153	42.30			21	112			233	17
Twenty20	69	62	6	1605	75*	28.66	1369	117.23	0	7	178	25	14	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	157	5	120	39	1	1/18	1/18	39.00	1.95	120.0	0	0	0
ODIs	344	8	186	170	4	2/43	2/43	42.50	5.48	46.5	0	0	0
T20Is	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
First-class	291		617	273	5	2/16		54.60	2.65	123.4		0	0
List A	449		477	421	4	2/43	2/43	105.25	5.29	119.2	0	0	0
Twenty20	69	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Career statistics

Test debut	England v India at Lord's, Jun 20-24, 1996 scorecard
Last Test	England v India at The Oval, Aug 18-22, 2011 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut	India v Sri Lanka at Singapore, Apr 3, 1996 scorecard
Last ODI	England v India at Cardiff, Sep 16, 2011 scorecard
ODI statistics
Only T20I	England v India at Manchester, Aug 31, 2011 scorecard
T20I statistics
First-class debut	1990/91
Last First-class	England v India at The Oval, Aug 18-22, 2011 scorecard
List A debut	1992/93
Last List A	England v India at Cardiff, Sep 16, 2011 scorecard
Twenty20 debut	Karnataka v Gujarat at Mumbai (BS), Apr 17, 2007 scorecard
Last Twenty20	England v India at Manchester, Aug 31, 2011 scorecard

Recent matches

Bat & Bowl	Team	Opposition	Ground	Match Date	Scorecard
69	India	v England	Cardiff	16 Sep 2011	ODI # 3195
19	India	v England	Lord's	11 Sep 2011	ODI # 3191
2	India	v England	The Oval	9 Sep 2011	ODI # 3189
32	India	v England	Southampton	6 Sep 2011	ODI # 3187
2	India	v England	Chester-le-Street	3 Sep 2011	ODI # 3186
31	India	v England	Manchester	31 Aug 2011	T20I # 204
29	Indians	v Leics	Leicester	29 Aug 2011	Twenty20
15	Indians	v Kent	Canterbury	26 Aug 2011	Twenty20
146*, 13	India	v England	The Oval	18 Aug 2011	Test # 2004
22, 18	India	v England	Birmingham	10 Aug 2011	Test # 2003

Profile

Rahul Dravid is probably one of the last classical Test match batsmen. His progress into the national side may have been steady and methodical rather than meteoric, but once there, Dravid established himself at the vanguard of a new, defiant generation that were no longer easybeats away from home. Armed with an orthodox technique drilled into him by Keki Tarapore, he became the cement that held the foundations firm while the flair players expressed themselves. Yet, for a man quickly stereotyped as one-paced and one-dimensional, he too could stroke the ball around when the mood struck him.

Never a natural athlete, he compensated with sheer hard work and powers of concentration that were almost yogic. At Adelaide in 2003, when India won a Test in Australia for the first time in a generation, he batted 835 minutes over two innings. A few months later, he was at the crease more than 12 hours for the 270 that clinched India's first series win in Pakistan.

Initially seen as a liability in the one-day arena, he retooled his game over the years to become an adept middle-order finisher. The heaves and swipes didn't come naturally, but by the time the selectors eased him aside in early 2008, he had more than 10,000 runs to his name in the 50-over game. There had also been a lengthy phase where he donned the wicketkeeping gloves, helping the team to find a balance that was crucial in the run to the World Cup final in 2003.

However, it's his Test exploits that he will be most remember for. After impressing in a Lord's debut where he was eclipsed by Sourav Ganguly, Dravid's breakthrough innings arrived at the Wanderers a few months later, against a South African attack accustomed to bullying visitors. A brief slump followed, but he emerged from that with perhaps one of the most famous supporting acts of all, to VVS Laxman in an Eden Gardens Test that rejuvenated Indian cricket. The half decade that followed was a golden one with the bat, as tours of England and Australia realised more than 600 runs. A two-year stint as captain, following Ganguly's axing, was less successful, though he did lead the side to series victories in England and the West Indies for the first time in a generation.

Resigning the captaincy didn't free his batting from the shackles immediately, but by the time Sri Lanka arrived in 2009, Dravid had regained the positivity that some thought he had lost forever. By then, he had gone past Mark Waugh to become the most successful slip catcher in history, and grown into his role as senior statesman of a team that was finally keeping pace with the expectation of the teeming multitudes.

 

Just another day in Dravid's life

The swansong of his eventful one-day career will coincide with the denouement of a bittersweet tour. Dravid, however, remains focused on the game, even as he affords himself time for reflection

 

Many things have happened to Rahul Dravid on this England tour. He made his maiden century at Lord's, fulfilling a desire that was born the day he made 95 on Test debut at the ground 15 years ago. He opened for virtually the entire Test series barring the first innings of the first Test, and ended up with the Player of the Series trophy on the visitors' side. He walked in the second innings of the third Test at Edgbaston believing the umpire's word for a caught-behind when replays conclusively showed the ball had kissed an aglet on his left shoe-lace. He was shocked to hear the news that the he was part of the Indian one-day squad as reinforcement after injuries had ruled many of the frontline players. He played his first and last Twenty20 international where he hit three consecutive sixes, the most by an Indian in the match. Tomorrow Dravid will not only pull curtains on a "bittersweet" tour but also on his one-day career. Luckily Dravid does not mind that one bit.

Today Dravid was expansive, clear and even tinged his answers with a pinch of wit while facing the media on the eve of his final one-day match. Throughout his career Dravid's was an image of a man unsatisfied, of a man who despite all his achievements and humility, was struggling to prove something to himself, more than to the outside world. In some ways his battle with the self always benefited Indian cricket as he grew into the role of crisis manager. He climbed up the batting ladder to occupy a permanent position in the top order primarily at three and four where his best batting was seen.

Being a grafter at the first-class level, Dravid found life difficult in his formative years in the one-day game. But once he returned in 1999 having faced the axe a few times in his first three years, he transformed himself into a batsman who could pace an innings cleverly despite never going for the slog. He even led India, kept wickets, and moved up and down the order in search of pressure situations. He did everything that was asked of him and more. Today he explained how he could pull it off.

"I probably had to work harder in one-day cricket than in Tests. It has given me a lot satisfaction that I have been able to achieve so much," Dravid said. "When I started my career, obviously I wasn't recognised as much of a one-day cricketer, [I was] probably more in the traditional frame of mind. That's how I grew up playing cricket, that's how I played my Ranji Trophy cricket. So there was a lot more learning that I had to do in one-day cricket along the way. I faced some ups and downs, I got dropped in the middle, I had to go back and learn some lessons, I had to improve my game, keep getting better."

	"I probably had to work harder in one-day cricket than in Tests" © AFP Enlarge

But Dravid acknowledged the advantages of early struggle and the I-am-only-going-to-improve attitude. "It helped free up my Test game and it has given me lot of satisfaction," Dravid said of his one-day resurgence. "I have done a lot of different things for India in one-day cricket. In some ways that versatility, that ability to do different things helped me a lot. You open the batting, it is different; batting at three is different; keeping and then batting, batting and then keeping ... so many different situations that I found myself in. It helped me grow as a person and cricketer."

Currently Dravid is the seventh highest run-maker and eighth in the list of most ODI appearances, something even he didn't envisage when he started playing. "The fact that I played over 300 games, [and made] close to 11,000 runs gives me a lot of satisfaction. Maybe people might have said at some stage that I will have successful Test career, but I guess not many people would have said that I'll play that many one-dayers at the start of my career. I wouldn't have said that about myself."

Though he did not shortlist his best one-day innings, Dravid pointed out reaching the final of the 2003 World Cup as one of the highlights of his career. Equally satisfying, he said, was watching MS Dhoni's side win the World Cup earlier this year even if Dravid was not part of the squad. "As a young kid in 1983, watching Kapil Dev lift the World Cup was a huge inspiration for me as a 10-year-old. Towards the end of my career, watching another Indian team and being part of the journey in some ways, and watching a team led by Dhoni in 2011 has been really satisfying," Dravid said. The biggest disappointment for him would be the failure to make the Super Sixes in the 2007 World Cup where India lost to Bangladesh in the league stage. He was the captain, and has still not come to terms with that disappointment.

The intensity in their training, the discipline, the hardwork have been the pillars on which Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble and Dravid built their success. These were also the characteristics that aided in the trio's longevity. "If you want to play international cricket and international sport for a long period of time, there are certain sacrifices that you need to make and discipline that you need to follow," Dravid said. "To be honest I have never seen them as sacrifices. I love the lifestyle of a cricketer, I love being a cricketer, l liked playing for my country. In some ways I feel lucky that I enjoy hitting the balls in the nets, I enjoy working hard and I enjoy practising. Sometimes when people ask me 'what will you do after cricket', I feel I will miss just that intensity of preparation, the practice."

In the last two months Dravid has always been the first player to come out an hour or two before the rest of the Indian squad assembled for training. Today was no different. He was at SWALEC stadium, facing throw-downs from Trevor Penney, the Indian fielding coach. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the trees surrounding the small ground dazzled in the vintage autumn colours of red, gold and orange. Comfortable in his own space, Dravid set about working on minor adjustments to his batting technique. It does not matter to him that he won't have to play another ODI after tomorrow.

"I am not dreading quitting. You just recognise that the time has got to come at some stage when you have got to move on. I am happy and I am comfortable in the space that I am in. I am happy with the way my career has progressed, how it has progressed in both forms of the game."

 

The misfit who thrived

Rahul Dravid wasn't made to play ODIs, but he made himself do it

Sidharth Monga

September 16, 2011

Comments: 43 | Login via | Text size: A | A

	Rahul Dravid worked extremely hard to carve out a successful ODI career © AFP Enlarge
Related Links Numbers Game : An unlikely star of the 50-over format News : Tendulkar, Ganguly and Kumble laud Dravid Features : Just another day in Dravid's life Players/Officials: Rahul Dravid Matches: England v India at Cardiff Series/Tournaments: India tour of England Teams: India

The enduring feature of Rahul Dravid's ODI cricket is sweat. Those sapping subcontinent evenings. The blue of that shirt considerably darker than the trousers. The neckerchief. Sweat dripping as if from a hose concealed inside the helmet. Younger legs of the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif pushing him, he keeping pace, at times pushing those younger legs. The visibly lighter bat. Something awkward, something off about him. A man who accidentally entered the wrong stage but improvised to carve himself a significant role.

Dravid had no business playing ODI cricket. He is the seventh-highest ODI run-getter of all time.

Dravid couldn't find gaps and singles. He won two more Man-of-the-Match awards than the man born to bat in ODI middle orders, Michael Bevan, albeit Dravid played for longer.

Dravid was not a natural athlete. He kept wicket in 73 games, scored four centuries in those, and averaged five more in those games than his career tally of 39.

Dravid didn't have the muscle or the heavy bat to clear fields. Only one Indian has scored an ODI fifty faster than him.

Dravid was likely to bring others down with him, eating up balls, hogging strike. He featured in the only two 300-plus partnerships in the history of the game. He is part of three of the seven most prolific combinations for India, and two of the top eight overall.

Dravid's ODI career is a strong back-up to the reasonable argument that people who specialise in Tests will always find it easier to play Twenty20 than vice versa. His career will also remain one of the difficult-to-explain phenomena in cricket. Why did a man so good at avoiding fielders in Tests keep finding them during the sporadic appearances in the first three years of his limited-overs career? Who told him he could adapt his game so much that for a while he became the quintessential middle-order rock around whom explosive batsmen such as Yuvraj could express themselves freely?

As the Numbers Game points out, Dravid reached such levels of acceptability between 1999 and 2005 that he kept up with the strike-rates of Sourav Ganguly and Inzamam-ul-Haq, two of the all-time best ODI batsmen. He was a magazine journalist who also started writing newspaper front-page anchors without ever losing the rigour that the magazine pieces would demand. If anything, he says, the front page added some desired spice to his magazine writing. "It helped free up my Test game, and it has given me lot of satisfaction," Dravid said a day before his last ODI. "I have done a lot of different things for India in one-day cricket. In some ways that versatility, that ability to do different things helped me a lot."

He learned on the job, in the public eye, even as people winced at the dot balls. He learned to stay beside the line of the ball, something that went against the very soul of his batting in Tests. He started opening the front leg up to hit over extra cover, point and midwicket. He tipped and ran. He lapped, he chipped. The back lift went higher. He kept wicket to keep his place. He batted soon after having squatted 300-odd times. He squatted 300-odd times soon after batting, having lost sweat as if from a hose.

It couldn't have come easy. He says he perhaps worked harder in ODIs than in Tests. "There was a lot more learning that I had to do in one-day cricket along the way. I faced some ups and downs, I got dropped in the middle, I had to go back and learn some lessons, I had to improve my game, keep getting better."

A few of Dravid's finest 145 v Sri Lanka, 1999 - Part of a 318-run stand with Sourav Ganguly which was, at the time, the highest for any wicket in ODIs 153 v New Zealand, 1999 - That record stood for less than six months as he and Sachin Tendulkar piled on 331 for the second wicket later in the year 50* v New Zealand, 2003 - In a sign of how far his game had progressed, he slammed the second fastest half-century by an India player 76* v Pakistan, 2004 - In an impossibly hyped series, India seemed headed for a series defeat at 94 for 4 before Dravid levelled it at 2-2 with the help of Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif 105 v West Indies, 2006 - Opening the innings, his century at better than a run-a-ball steers an inexperienced India side to victory in Jamaica

Some Test traits stayed. Of the eight men who have scored more than 10,000 ODI runs, Dravid's efforts have sought the least attention. His first century came in the game that Saeed Anwar scored 194. His two highest ODI scores came in matches that Sachin Tendulkar and Ganguly came close to the then-elusive ODI double-hundred. He even opened the innings 21 times, managing a match-winning century in Jamaica from that position. His captaincy is remembered for the 2007 World Cup debacle, and not for India's success-rate under him, which is second only to MS Dhoni's team.

As captain Dravid presided over most of India's fabled streak of 17 wins batting second. Chasing in matches that he captained, Dravid averaged 41.11. Although his three most conspicuous innings came batting first - the two big hundreds in those triple-century stands and that 22-ball fifty against New Zealand - Dravid's real utility remained in the chase. He was not quite the free-spirited wanderer in ODIs. He liked to take with him the compass, milestones, maps, the GPS.

Dravid may have scored many more runs with Tendulkar and Ganguly, but his 2663 with Yuvraj and 1960 with Kaif would have given him special satisfaction. He kept up with the young, he shepherded them at times. If Yuvraj helped him out by taking away the run-rate pressure, Dravid negotiated the difficult conditions better. If there was a criticism against the new Dravid, it was when setting a target. In a world where 300 was becoming the new 250, he could falter on the side of slowness.

The uninhibited Twenty20 mindset, and the uniform, almost regulated, tracks for ODIs, didn't quite appreciate, or perhaps need, the solidity of Dravid. The time of Dhoni was coming. Dhoni may have started off as the crazy hitter, his real utility was in following Dravid in the evolution of the ODI middle-order batsman. Strictly speaking in terms of ODIs, Dhoni was Dravid who could explode.

Dravid himself was getting on in years. Also, the running between the wickets and the fielding in cricket were headed towards the next level. Dhoni's transformation as an ODI batsman meant India could drop Dravid, and open up a place for an extra hitter, a quicker man between the wickets and in the field.

Does that mean the limited-overs game has changed so much as to render Dravid irrelevant? Now may not be the time to ask the question. If these changes had come six-seven years ago, it would have been fascinating to see Dravid's response. He can surely slog. After all he managed to hit three consecutive sixes on his last limited-overs tour. Surely he wouldn't have minded losing much less sweat?

Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo

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Thanks & Regards

S. Sreenivasa Prasad Rao

 

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