Rahul Dravid – India’s great fortress and cricket’s modern statesman

By Jack Sheldon

Rahul Dravid’s mold of cricketer – somebody with unrelenting patience, a fine defensive technique and a gentlemanly manner portending respect for his opponents, the laws and the history of the game – was supposed to have become obsolete in the 1980s. When the cavalier approach taken by Ian Botham, Viv Richards and his namesake Barry delighted crowds around the world, purists feared that a Gavaskar-like defensive technique would not be seen again; nor somebody with the patience of Boycott or the outlook of Brian Statham. But Dravid encompassed all three of these, whilst at the same time surpassing many of the records that were in place when his international career began in 1996. Perhaps fittingly, statistically as well as in the minds of many cricket-lovers, he remains in the shadow of his long-time friend and fellow middle-order run machine Sachin Tendulkar. But he is, at least until Ricky Ponting scores another 89 runs, the second most prolific run scorer in the 2,035-match history of the ultimate form of the game.

In years to come it is likely that commentators will see Dravid’s run-tally as flattering him – his name will not roll off the tongue, as those of some of his contemporaries will. Yet his services to the Indian team over a 164 match career are arguably unrivalled even by the two Little Masters (Gavaskar and Tendulkar) and the legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev. This commitment to the greater cause was evident at opposing ends of his career. On debut, batting in an unfamiliar position at number seven and within the imposing surrounds of Lord’s – cricket’s greatest pilgrimage site – mere mortals would have folded under pressure and looked on as their side slipped to defeat. However, Dravid produced a typically fighting innings of 95 from 363 deliveries, to steer his team into a position which eventually resulted in a drawn game and, were it not for the weather, could have contributed to a series-defining win. Friday’s press conference confirming his retirement again re-affirmed that in Dravid’s mind the team comes before personal glory. He told the media how now, rather than a year or two down the line when he could still conceivably be scoring Test hundreds, was the right time to retire because “it is time for a new generation of young players to make their own history and take the Indian cricket team even further”. This attitude could be a key factor in ensuring that the slump endured by India on their last two tours does not become an extended one.

Dravid the batsman has long been nicknamed ‘The Wall’. But a fortress is perhaps more appropriate to fully illustrate the task opposition bowlers had to break through. Yes, in a bizarre statistical quirk he was bowled more times than any other Test cricketer but there were many occasions when he blunted even the sharpest bowling attacks. VVS Laxman will forever be associated with India’s miraculous comeback following-on against McGrath, Warne, Gillespie and Kasprowicz at Calcutta in 2001, but Dravid’s chanceless 180 was every bit as important in shaping the game in the home team’s favour. And he again united with Laxman at Adelaide three years later as he scored 305 runs in the match and his team secured a rare win in Australia’s backyard. Dravid also stood tall on a number of occasions when his teammates did not – a true sign of greatness. He was head and shoulders above everybody else in making twin fifties on a pitch described as a minefield at Sabina Park in 2006, and was simply magnificent in England last summer. His three hundreds were the only centuries scored by the tourists in the Test series and came against a bowling attack regarded as one of the best, if not the very best, around. He also had to cope with being shuffled up to open the batting at various times but didn’t let this have any effect on his game as he accumulated runs in the same manner he had for the previous fifteen years and added a further 965 deliveries to a world record number of balls faced in Tests.

Dravid’s other entry into Wisden’s record pages is as the player with the most Test outfield catches, many of them at slip. Although he began to shell a few chances in England and Australia recently, for most of his career there was inevitability about the dismissal being completed when the ball was edged into Dravid’s vicinity. A further indication of his fielding ability is that, for a period in the early 2000s, he kept wicket for India in One-day Internationals and, although he could never claim to master the role, he always gave 100% effort and was rarely a liability.

Dravid’s brilliance as a cricketer has, by all reports, been more than matched by his brilliance as a person. Christopher Martin-Jenkins commented that “He has never done a graceless thing on a cricket field” and, from the accounts of those that know him, that assessment extends beyond the boundary edge. Dravid is one of a select group of cricketers, Kumar Sangakkara also among them, who play an active role in debating the future of the sport which has made them household names. He sits, along with great names from yesteryear, on the MCC’s Cricket Committee that has been instrumental in suggesting improvements to the international game in recent years. He also delivered the Bradman Oration in Canberra at the end of 2011. That opportunity was taken to discuss empty stadiums in India, the need for one-day and Twenty20 matches to be scheduled more carefully and how the possibility of day-night Test cricket should not be ruled out in attempting to to maintain the primacy of the longest format. The speech was described as “meticulous, wide-ranging and fascinating” and, although these issues were already being discussed by some sections of the media, the gravity with which Dravid spoke gave his opinions a much greater weight.

If such a great cricketer can have one regret it may be that his period as national captain was so short – less than two years between November 2005 and September 2007. His Test record was good but, in the eyes of the Indian public, his captaincy was marred by the disastrous 2007 World Cup campaign and Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni will thus be remembered far more fondly as leaders of the great Indian side that Dravid was such a fundamental part of. However, this is the only minor blot on an otherwise superb career. Dravid scored runs in all corners of the world and in a number of different, and often difficult, situations. Over the years he became India’s great fortress at number three and established himself as a true statesman of the modern game. And with the rise of Twenty20 – something he is himself concerned about – it may be that international cricket is never again graced by a player or person of his kind.

Test career: 164 Tests, 13288 runs @ 52.31, 36 100s & 63 50s, 210 catches
ODI career: 344 ODIs, 10889 runs @ 39.16, 12 100s & 83 50s, 196 catches and 14 stumpings

Jack Sheldon is a teenage cricket writer and has also started his own blog, found at http://thepavilioncricket.blogspot.com/
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Please comment, positive or negative - that way its easier for me to know whether I should put this on the ready to be published or not.

Shelsey, very nicely done, an enjoyable read. Can I suggest that you at least put his career stats in as reference somewhere. Otherwise beautifully written.

biltongbek wrote:Shelsey, very nicely done, an enjoyable read. Can I suggest that you at least put his career stats in as reference somewhere. Otherwise beautifully written.

Good idea

Added at the bottom

Adam, I appear not to be able to move this into the archive any more. Posted in the ready to publish if that is OK.