Rahul Dravid: The Silent Achiever

If the qualities of dedication, commitment, endurance, patience and selflessness had a physical form in sport, then it would be that of Rahul Dravid - a man who showed every Indian that hard work combined with relentless pursuit for perfection can take you to great heights in life.

Dravid may not be the most gifted but he compensated that with unmatched passion towards the game. Dravid, along with the iconic Tendulkar, will easily qualify as the greatest Test batsmen produced by India in the last three decades.

And, the two icons could not have been more different. While Tendulkar was a genius, a man who gave you the impression that most of his deeds with the bat seemed like a gift from above, Dravid, on the other hand, was a man who was extremely dedicated. He rose through the ranks of Indian cricket through sheer determination and will power.

Rajdeep Sardesai, in his book Democracy’s XI put it very beautifully when he wrote , If Tendulkar was like the emperor who shone through Indian cricket with his regal splendor, then Dravid was like the General who defiantly guarded the fortress of Indian cricket at all times."

Dravid’s colossal Test record puts him in a league that only a few men have inhabited. In the 163 matches that he played for India, Dravid scored a colossal 13288 runs, including 63 fifties, 36 hundreds and 5 double hundreds. His record for India, as a batsman is second only to Tendulkar.

Dravid’s 180 at the iconic Eden gardens in Kolkata in 2001 (the match where VVS Laxman played the greatest innings ever played by an Indian batsman by scoring 281) was a water shed moment in Indian cricket. A moment which showed that India could now take on the very best in the world, a moment which showed that India no longer were dependent only on Tendulkar’s brilliance to win matches.

His 233 in Adelaide helped India win a Test match in Australia for the first time in 22 years. His 270 in Rawalpindi against Pakistan was one for the connoisseurs of Test cricket as he played some trademark textbook cricket hitting 34 fours and a six in that marathon knock.

But more than all this - Dravid was the quintessential team man. An opener injured? No problem. Dravid will step up. You need a batsman who should also double up as the wicket keeper? Again no problem. Dravid was there. He batted at No.5 at the start of his career, then more at No.3 for most times. He even opened the innings if the team needed him to. It might have taken so much from him but he never complained.

Dravid bowed out of the game in 2012 after serving India with unmatched distinction for 16 years. When he bowed out, he did it with minimum fanfare - a few obligatory photographs, a small press conference, and he was gone. Compare that with the farewell that Tendulkar got, an entire nation weeping as the little master walked into the sunset, the whole of India coming to a standstill when he delivered that 20-minute odd farewell address in front of his adoring fans.

Dravid was an epitome of selflessness, a man who for his entire career played under the shadow of a genius called Tendulkar. Dravid was a man who lent a helping hand whenever the team required one. What a gentleman cricketer!