Child or “Gift of GOD”

On 11th January 1973, in Indore a Kannada couple Sharath and Pushpa Dravid were gifted with a son, they named him Rahul.

Little Rahul and Cricket Rahul’s interest in cricket began to blossom

when he was 10 years old. Like most boys his age, he began to knock about with a rubber ball in the streets.

But with his considerable talent, it did not take him long to become an indispensable cricketer for his school side.

His “GURU” Dravid may have remained just an aspiring cricketer

like millions of others in India, but for the eagle eyes of Keki Tarapore, the famous coach.

Tarapore spotted Dravid at a cricket camp organized by the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) when he was just 11 years old, and a student at St. Joseph’s School, Bangalore, his hometown.

A young Rahul impressed Tarapore with his ability to concentrate on batting for long periods, and also with his determination to apply the right techniques.

Over the years Tarapore has remained a true guide for Dravid, helping him sail smoothly at every crucial juncture in his cricketing career.

Ranji Debut The Dravid success story then began to unfold at great

speed. He played at the Under-17 and Under-19 circuit, then made his debut in Ranji Trophy in 1991, while a second-year student at the St. Joseph’s College of Commerce in Bangalore.

It was a game against Maharashtra, and Dravid, batting at No. 7 stroked a masterful 82.

In the very next match, against Bengal he got his maiden first class hundred, a rock-solid 132, this time batting at No.6. The script of his success story was turning out to be neat.

Success at the domestic level

Those watching Dravid play at the domestic level realized here was Mr. Potential walking around in cricket flannels.

His yen for being a perfectionist technically, his sound temperament, his ability to accumulate runs with patience, all augured well for the future of Indian cricket.

And these qualities impressed the selectors.

Then came Mr.Dependable to the national side

In 1996, Dravid got his hard earned test cap against England at The Lord’s alongside Sourav Ganguly.

It was a match both men will remember for different reasons. Dravid because he missed a century by five runs, Ganguly because he managed to get a ton.

Since the stage was huge and the occasion so special, both Dravid and Ganguly were catapulted, almost instantly, to international stardom.

Ever since they arrived together on the scene, comparisons have not ceased.

Today both of them are counted amongst the most important contributors to Indian Cricket, while one has already bid goodbye to cricketing arena the other still continues to serve the team with the same dignity.

Rahul-The model

With his success on the field and a photogenic face major brands roped him up with modelling assignments

Amongst many others he became brand ambassador for Pepsi, Kissan and Nippo.

Arjuna Award In 1998 Dravid was honoured with

the “Arjuna Award ” for his excellence in the game.

It was yet another proud moment for him as well as for his parents

who had always stood by him.

Struggle at the One Day level

While Sourav continued to impress the selectors with his ability to score runs at a fast pace Rahul although a permanent member in the test team struggled to maintain his place in the one day side, somewhere his vast array of strokes were not giving him maximum returns.

His brilliant show in tests also didn’t impress the selectors to the extent that they could give him some more chances.

Finally he got a chance to prove his metal in an ODI series at home against Srilanka.

He made full use of the opportunity and made 116 off just 118 deliveries in the very first ODI

Dravid at the 1999 England World Cup

The 1999 World Cup, was although , not one of the most memorable editions to the mega event as far as Indian team’s performance is concerned, but, it gave Rahul the recognition of a top class ODI batsman for sure.

Emerging as the highest run getter with 461 runs under his belly he made 2 centuries and 3 fifties.

All of them scored at a steady pace and under difficult conditions.

Behind the wickets

Each time the main wicketkeeper in the side used to get injured Dravid’s abilities to keep the wickets worked to the team’s advantage.

But in 2002 Ganguly(captain) and the team management decided to keep him in the playing 11 as the main wicketkeeper so that the team could play with 7 batsmen.

Dravid took up the responsibility and performed well both behind and in front of the wickets in that series.

However, critics commented that Rahul was forced to accept wicketkeeping to assure him of his place in the One day team because of competition coming from young strokeplayers like Yuvraj and Dinesh Mongia.

2003 World Cup South Africa After a disastrous tour of New Zealand, the

Indian team battled against all odds to emerge as the runnerups.

With Dravid making important contributions whenever the top order seemed to fumble.

In this edition of the World Cup he got runs at an average of 63

Teams throughout the world had now started to recognize him as the backbone of the Indian middle order.

Marriage It was on 4th May 2003 that one of the most

eligible bachelors of that time in India decided to get married.

It was an arranged marriage with “Vijeta” a Doctor by profession.

Rahul now has a 3 year old son “Samit”

Dravid in Australia In December 2003, Indian team went to the tour of

Australia, a team which was thrashing others in a manner West Indies used to in the 70s and early 80s.

The first test had ended in draw The second test at Adelaide proved to be a match no

Dravid fan will ever forget. He played a mammoth innings of 232 and backed it up

with a 72 not out in the second innings India won a test for the first time in Australia thanks to

the heroics of “THE WALL” After the game Ganguly commented “Rahul played like

GOD”

Ball tempering On the same tour in an ODI against Zimbabwe

in which he was the stand-in skipper Rahul got involved in a ball tempering case while unknowingly shining the ball with his chewing gum.

But because of his past clear record and his nice behaviour on the field he escaped with a nominal deduction in his match fee.

ICC Cricketer of the Year-2004 Rahul made the whole country proud when he

bagged both “Cricketer of the year” and “Test cricketer of the year” awards in 2004

Adding another feather to his cap

NOT a good leader Because of Ganguly’s continuing failure with the bat and

the famous Chappel-Ganguly dispute Dravid was handed over the captaincy of the team

After initial successes in home series against England and Srilanka Dravid was never able to bring the right balance in the team and bind it as a group.

As result the team suffered in the tour of West Indies and was thrashed by South Africa

Dravid’s men again failed in the 2007 World Cup in The Windies

After winning test series in England Dravid resigned from captaincy giving the reason that it was affecting his batting.

IPL-A flop show for Dravid In the IPL in 2008 Dravid was the captain of

the Vijay Mallya owned Bangalore Royal Challengers team which proved to be an underdog in the tournament although he himself played well.

Another controversy started when Mallya slammed Dravid for his poor team selection and wrong on-field decisions, but, Dravid again gave an example of gentleman behavior and respect for the sport by not saying a word in the media regarding the topic.

Is this the “FALL of the WALL”? After his poor show as the captain and in the

IPL Dravid’s performance with the bat has been a matter of great concern for the team management and for the man himself.

He is no more a part of the ODI side and not performing upto his standards in the tests as well.

The long stretch of his failures is resulting in critics considering this period of his career as “FALL of the WALL”