Rahul Dravid walking back to the Pavilion after his last ODI innings
Rahul dravid……. He is not the highest run maker or the highest century maker in either limited over Cricket or in Test Cricket. But yes he is a champion who has been a thorough professional and gentleman of the game. And one with tremendous dedication and patience. And ofcourse “He is the wall”.
On 16 sept at the Sophia Garden, Cardiff Rahul Dravid played his last one-day match (which was his 343rd ODI) which happened to the the last ODI between india and england in the current series. And once again he played a classy 69 and had a century run partnership with Virat Kohli. He had announced his retirement from limited over formet after this series after a surprise inclusion in team .
Rahul Dravid is a real team player. A very hard working and unselfish player as well. Well, he didnt get off to a great start in this ODI career way back in the Singer Cup in Singapore. It was not a great debut against srilanka. He scored only 3. In fact he was not highly rated for the ODIs (considered a misfit given his temperament and style of Test Cricket). He was even dropped from the side.
But he worked hard and groomed himself as an ODI player. And so much so that upon retirement one can marvel at this career records and achievements (more than 10,000 runs and 14 centuries and one of the best strike rates and averages). He was never as popular as sachin or dhoni. In fact a fitting tribute to Rahul, Sachin himself called him the “unsung hero” of Indian Cricket. No doubt that he was one of the greatest ODI players for india.
Every cricket captain of world cricket would love to have a player like him in his side. He has done well in every department of the cricket field. He opened the innings when needed, played successfully in the middle-order, kept wickets (in 79 matches actually).
He had a great worldcup in 1999 in england where he scored 461 runs including 2 centuries back to back. And though people always considered him to be solid, be proved on many occasions that he could play fast in the ODIs. Till date he holds the record for the second fastest 50 by an Indian batsman having scored a 22 ball 50 in hyderabad in 2003
He was highly respected by his rivals and counterparts such as Ricky Ponting. He was given a standing ovation when he entered to bat in his last ODI. In the crowd read a banner, something like, “Dravid we miss you and the only reason we are here
is to show gratitude to you.”
He was the real unsung hero of Indian ODI
