Today was Rahul Dravid’s final ODI match (and the last of the indian series in england). And he played well fro his 69 (at one point i thought he may even get a century). I tad disappointed that he got out after badly misjudging the flight on Swanns ball (hate it when indian top order batsmen give away their wickets to spinners so easily)
Some pictures of Rahul Dravid’s last ODI innings – played today against England in Cardiff. This completes 343 ODIs for him and he scored 14 centuries in them !
Rahul Dravid being Congratulated by Trott after his last ODI innings
Rahul Dravid walking back to the Pavilion after his last ODI innings
Here are the highlights of the innings using commentary from Cricinfo
6.4Dernbach to Dravid, FOUR, 75.0 mph, runs! The gap at cover is miniscule, but Dravid has threaded it to perfection with a backfoot drive. It didn’t appear as though he had timed it, but the ball beat the fielder to the boundary
36.4 Dernbach to Dravid, FOUR, 75.0 mph, runs! The gap at cover is miniscule, but Dravid has threaded it to perfection with a backfoot drive. It didn’t appear as though he had timed it, but the ball beat the fielder to the boundary
36.6 Swann to Dravid, no run, 59.6 mph, Kieswetter gets very excited as Dravid backs away and misses a cut at an arm-ball that rushed straight on, but there was nothing on thatIndia 69/2 R Dravid 7* (14b 1×4)18.3Dernbach to Dravid, FOUR, 83.9 mph, shot! Tremendous stroke from Dravid. He’s signing out in style. This was a cut, on the walk and with the weight going forward. The ball screamed out of the middle of the bat, backward point didn’t even move18.4Dernbach to Dravid, 1 run, 84.8 mph, a similar stroke from Dravid, but this time the ball takes the bottom half of the bat and goes to third man. Are we seeing evidence of inconsistent bounce?
36.1Dernbach to Dravid, no run, 80.7 mph, dropped, Dravid was trying to drive it past the bowler, didn’t time it well at all, Dernbach reacted a little late moving to his left, made a good effort nevertheless but couldn’t hold on
38.6 Bopara to Dravid, FOUR, 76.0 mph, Dravid’s turn to hit a boundary, made a bit of room and got the width he wanted, just chipped it firmly over extra cover to find the gap and the ropes, 200 up
40.6 Finn to Dravid, FOUR, 87.4 mph, beautifully done by Dravid, mid-off was inside the circle, Finn bowled it slightly short outside off, Dravid made a bit of room and punched it imperiously in that gap between mid-off and extra cover
41.6 Swann to Dravid, OUT, 52.8 mph, Dravid’s gone! Came down the track and tried to fetch it from outside off to swing it over midwicket, missed, the ball turned and clipped off stump. Applause all around as an illustrious career in ODIs has just ended. The England players walk up to Dravid and shake hands in a gesture of appreciation, and the crowd applaud him all the way to the pavilion
R Dravid b Swann 69 (79b 4×4 0x6) SR: 87.34
And thats is – this caps Rahul Dravid’s ODI career – what a great player – one of the true gems of the game who has been a thorough professional for all these years. Hats off you to Mr. Wall
