Thursday 26 February 2015

of the living legend : Rahul Dravid

Rarely has a word so aptly been devised to represent a person who is very modest to call himself as a true Gentleman. Rahul Dravid is one such person and a cricketer, whose impeccable qualities on the field stands out as much as his politeness and charisma off the field. 

                 


He is so good as a cricketer, purely rating him in terms of technique and the ability to withstand tremendous pressure from the opposition that his wicket always makes for an invalueable asset to possess. He is one such player who is never hated by anyone in the opposition or any cricket lover for that instance. He was and still is an enormous asset to the Indian cricket and the cricketing fraternity.



His technique was by far the best amongst the test playing batsman, his cover drives and the cut shots that he plays through the offside are mesmerising where he takes that extra bit of time from the bowler as he watches the ball to turn/zip or seam and then execute his shot was a sight which would take your breathe away. His occasional leg glance which would involve anything on the middle or slightly on the leg to flick it or to pull, if it was short of length was technically the best by far. 



He is known to be a team person, one who gave his everything for the team. It is very hard to imagine a person who has sacrificed so much for the team, that if he was asked to bat at all the positions (from being an opener to finish at No.6 or 7) he would be ready to do so, if he was asked to keep the wickets because the team needed an extra batsman, he would do so. If he was asked to field at short leg long after he had earned the reputation of being a exceptional slip catcher, he would still do it because another player was too tired to field. 

 


The philosophy that mars Rahul is that he was ready to look bad for the team to look good. His outstanding days were when he wore the white jersey for India, be it the magical partnership with VVS Laxman at Eden Gardens,Calcutta in 2001 vs Aus or the 233 vs Aus in Adelade, he always gave us a reason to cheer for him, have expectations of him and trust him to sail India through.

                   



He was truly believed to be "The Wall" of India. His remarkable achievement though for me came in England 2011, where he carried his bat through the innings and made a virtual mockery of the hugely talented batsmen who were in his company. He was too good not to be counted amongst the greats. He always maintained a low key profile, even in his interviews to the magazines or the press he never outspoke anyone. 


Naysayers may argue that he captained India in 2007 WC to a disastrous result, however that would tell us he is human above all. He always lived in the shadow of Sachin Tendulkar and he never had the opportunity to show the world the legend he was. I think if he would have lived in an era pre-Sachin or post-Sachin, he would have outshone him easily. His life was never a fairytale and he got an ending that was not a fairytale one too. He was always this good guy from Bangalore whom every girl would want to take home to her parents, never misbehaved, never got angry at trivial stuff or at his critics. I think that is one virtue not everyone posesses and he was the paramount when it came to play for the country with dignity and pride. Almost every format he took part in he excelled. Be it having scored more than 10000 runs in ODI's and tests or anchoring the innings for Rajasthan Royals in IPL, He was the go to man of Indian cricket.


Sadly, he did not recieve the dearest adulation or the star studded farewell like Sachin or the near perfect farewell of retiring in front of his home crowd, he got out for 1 in his last match ever, 25 in his last test innings and 69 in his last ODI innings. More importantly he lost all of last matches played hence not allowing the fans to glorify his absence thereforth. But everyone who grew up admiring Rahul would agree that he was much more than a excellent cricketer, more importantly he was a gentle human being, sometimes so gentle that you would wonder if one has to be so pompous and exuberant for anything that one's achieved. He exemplified for being simplistic and selfless yet fighting hard for his runs. He continues to be remembered as a wonderful cricketer and more importantly a beautiful human being who continues to inspire generations ahead. Glad that I saw you play in your prime.



We will never forget you or your contributions to Indian cricket. 
Someday I wish to be as selfless and as giving as you.

Love,
Ram

19-11-2014


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