"Sachin is GOD of Cricket, Ganguly is GOD of offside, Laxman is GOD of second innings - When the doors of the temple are closed, all the GODs remain behind the WALL"
The above quote aptly defines RAHUL DRAVID.
Champions always let the bat do the talking, irrespective of the Wicket, conditions, bowlers, Venues etc. Enough has been said about the Seniors and their low performance in recent tourneys. I still feel Dravid could have continued as Australia tour alone brought below par performances from him. England and West Indies tour of 2011, Dravid was still our best test batsmen. In comparison, Sachin and Laxman along with Sehwag were failures in all the 3 foreign tourneys.Dravid always put the team's interest in front and made decisions. We have enough examples from the past to substantiate the point. The decision to retire has also to do with putting the team's interest upfront. Road ahead is Youngsters and Dravid hung up his boots for the same reason. Dravid is a role model in many ways. His Batting technique, Hard work, staying fit for close to two decades (work ethic), Control over emotions, being an Indian ambassador, a true learner of the game - All these traits made him elite and people from cricketing fraternity looked upto him and he is very affable by nature.
For the world fans, how much a swash-buckling innings from Sachin, Sehwag wou
ld have thrilled them, similarly they would love to watch Dravid fight and Graft an Hundred. Cricket experts cannot relate themselves to the fact that Dravid's defense can be disturbed. He was one of the finest leaver of the swinging and bouncing delivaries. His copy book leaning cover drives and trademark flick shot through midwicket defined his strokeplay. He had all the shots in his forte and would always execute those strokes the way it needs to be played. Dravid announced himself in Test cricket at Lords, where he missed creating history by 5 runs. But the fact that he represented India thrilled him more than landmark.
ld have thrilled them, similarly they would love to watch Dravid fight and Graft an Hundred. Cricket experts cannot relate themselves to the fact that Dravid's defense can be disturbed. He was one of the finest leaver of the swinging and bouncing delivaries. His copy book leaning cover drives and trademark flick shot through midwicket defined his strokeplay. He had all the shots in his forte and would always execute those strokes the way it needs to be played. Dravid announced himself in Test cricket at Lords, where he missed creating history by 5 runs. But the fact that he represented India thrilled him more than landmark.Limited overs cricket demands from a player altogether different qualities of batting. Batsmen need to compensate initial time spent in form of delivaries later in the innings was a bit of challenge for Dravid. As a person, who keeps learning, he brought some more shots in his forte, which adapted him to Limited overs cricket. Dravid never looked back from that time on and minimum of 10000 runs in both versions of the game speaks volumes about this Legend.
Ganguly's successful tenure of captain has lot to do with taking Dravid and Sachin into confidence, 
especially Dravid's role was re-defined and it made wonders for Indian cricket. Trusting Dravid as a wicket keeper in a World cup ensured that we played 7 batsmen and 4 bowlers. Dravid's wicket keeping was not very effective down the leg side. The man saw the funny side of it, when he mentioned in one of the interviews that his wicket keeping made the Indian bowlers more disciplined in line and length and not straying down the leg side. His crucial knocks have alone ensured that we are visitors with a purpose of winning the series. Adelaide, Headingley, Lords, Rawalpindi, Johannesberg, Napier have all seen the wall grafting mammooth hundreds, sometime double hundreds which have ensured India win overseas.
especially Dravid's role was re-defined and it made wonders for Indian cricket. Trusting Dravid as a wicket keeper in a World cup ensured that we played 7 batsmen and 4 bowlers. Dravid's wicket keeping was not very effective down the leg side. The man saw the funny side of it, when he mentioned in one of the interviews that his wicket keeping made the Indian bowlers more disciplined in line and length and not straying down the leg side. His crucial knocks have alone ensured that we are visitors with a purpose of winning the series. Adelaide, Headingley, Lords, Rawalpindi, Johannesberg, Napier have all seen the wall grafting mammooth hundreds, sometime double hundreds which have ensured India win overseas.Indian team will miss him in Slip cordon too. After Mohammad Azharrudin, Rahul Dravid was one of the best in the world. He has taken some blinders off the bowling of Indian spinners. His short Captaincy stint had highs and lows to mention. Winning Test series in England and exit from 2007 world cup was high and low respectively. Where the competitve spirit is grossly mistaken in the form of sledging a
nd unfriendly behaviours, Dravid kept himself very dignified and he played a crucial part in bringing India out of match fixing era. He could have been more aggressive in limited overs format which would have helped him to have equal stint as in test match format. Now that he has retired, Rahul Dravid has more role to play and no one better than him would have realised it. Anil Kumble will be a happy man as he would lean onto Dravid for some advices to raise the standard of Karnataka cricket. Rahul has great command over English language and his cricket acumen is matchless - thereby he can be a wonderful cricket commentator. These men are so passionate about the game that they can give so much to the world of cricket, where there is a threat of Test cricket vanishing because of T-20 and IPL craze. Dravid can influence cricketers to prioritise longer versions of the game.
nd unfriendly behaviours, Dravid kept himself very dignified and he played a crucial part in bringing India out of match fixing era. He could have been more aggressive in limited overs format which would have helped him to have equal stint as in test match format. Now that he has retired, Rahul Dravid has more role to play and no one better than him would have realised it. Anil Kumble will be a happy man as he would lean onto Dravid for some advices to raise the standard of Karnataka cricket. Rahul has great command over English language and his cricket acumen is matchless - thereby he can be a wonderful cricket commentator. These men are so passionate about the game that they can give so much to the world of cricket, where there is a threat of Test cricket vanishing because of T-20 and IPL craze. Dravid can influence cricketers to prioritise longer versions of the game.World would miss him on the field. Off the field, Dravid would continue to score hundreds and bat for sessions after sessions, through passing the torch to youngsters, be it Indian or non indian......
Let's salute the man for his commendable contributions to Indian cricket and to the world cricket.
Regards,
Prashy.
