Rahul Dravid : The God of Fine Things

[graphic23]

A really well written article on Rahul Dravid by Suresh Menon. If you've read some of his previous works, you would know some of his recent works have been disappointing. But this one, despite a few cliches, is one worth reading.

The God Of Fine Things Style, grace, aggression and infinite patience. SURESH MENON on why Rahul Dravid is the intelligent man’s guide to what a sportsman ought to be image Art of positioning Only one of Dravid’s 27 centuries was made in a game India lost PHOTOS: REUTERS IN HIS first Test, as indeed in his latest, Rahul Dravid invited both congratulations and commiserations. In fact, the one often came with the other in his career. He made 95 on debut at Lord’s, and it was impossible to congratulate him without commiserating with him; likewise after his brilliant 177 against Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad – great innings mate, but tough luck, you missed a sixth double century. To be defined by what he has missed has sometimes been Dravid’s fate. When he made 180 in a Test match, he was upstaged by a man who made 281; that innings by VVS Laxman is rated as the best by an Indian batsman. When Dravid made his then highest one-day score of 145, Sourav Ganguly made 183 in the same innings; when he topped that by making 153 against New Zealand, Sachin Tendulkar made an unbeaten 186. Is Rahul Dravid the best supporting act in the history of the game or a great player born in the wrong decade? He is the best supporting act in the history of the game (a world record 78 century partnerships in Tests) and a great player (over 10,000 runs in both forms of the game). It is tempting to conclude that he was born in the wrong decade, forcing him to play in the shadow of Sachin Tendulkar, but that hardly matters to the man who is in competition with no one but himself, and who was secure enough to say at one time, “Most people want me to get out quickly so they can watch Sachin bat.” Today even the die-hard Tendulkar acolyte is willing to wait, for he knows that Dravid getting out early usually spells disaster. At 32 for four against Sri Lanka, not even Sehwag, Tendulkar and Laxman carried back into the pavilion with them all the hopes of a nation. Dravid was still batting, and that was reason enough to go about the normal business of living a life. He did not disappoint, guiding India past 400. While a Sehwag or a Tendulkar cry halt to life in the nation, with fans dropping whatever they are doing to watch the action, Dravid lets life go on. It is as if his countrymen are saying, adapting Robert Browning, ‘Rahul’s at the crease, All’s right with the world.’ Dravid is the least obtrusive of players, he demands little mind space. He wears his passion on one sleeve, his intelligence on the other. It is a rare combination that evokes awe rather than love, admiration more than conviviality. He is the intelligent man’s guide to what a sportsman ought to be – modest, dependable, well educated, with the gift of grace under pressure and a perspective that is adult. He is the comfort for those who know they cannot be Sachin Tendulkar, he was once described by Virender Sehwag as “a psychologist, a man to take all your problems to”. While carving out a distinct cricketing personality despite performing alongside Tendulkar, Dravid ensured that the Indian team retained some of the old-fashioned values unique to cricket. For some years after that Kolkata partnership with Laxman, Dravid carried the Indian batting on his shoulders, saving Test matches in Port of Spain, Georgetown and Nottingham and playing the key role in victories in Headingley, Adelaide, Kandy and Rawalpindi. He had four centuries in successive innings, and four double centuries in a span of 15 Tests. He made an incredible 23 percent of the runs made by India in the 21 victories under Sourav Ganguly, at an average of 102.84. His overall average crossed Tendulkar’s, and his wicket became the most sought after by the bowlers. image Grace in spotlight After four successive centuries, his wicket became the most coveted IT IS necessary to descend into statistics only to underline the fact that with Dravid it is never beauty without cruelty – he is a stylish batsman who makes it count, a do-gooder who is focussed on the result, a century-maker whose innings are not out of touch with team performance but an integral part of it. No ploughing the lonely furrow here, every part is a piece of the main. And yet Tendulkar has to be the starting point for any assessment of Dravid, just as Don Bradman was for a study of Walter Hammond or Gary Sobers for the understanding of Rohan Kanhai. Such men are, to twist a modern usage, the significant other in the careers of batsmen who will appear with an asterisk against their names because a colleague or rival did everything they did, often at a higher level and usually with greater energy. It isn’t just the cricket, of course. There is a dignity about Dravid that scares away those looking for the kind of mix in character that makes for celebrity and simplifies the job of the marketing managers. Here is a man untouched by scandal; the worst thing he has done on a cricket field is chew on a lozenge. Match referee Clive Lloyd pulled him up for ball tampering, arguing that he could have been interfering with its condition. When Tendulkar received a similar ruling for a similarly innocent action, he was pulled up too. Dravid’s infraction was laughed off as a silly episode, but Tendulkar’s provoked a national outburst and an international incident. Dravid’s coolness makes him less than cool, his sobriety works against his being the kind of public hero that Ganguly is in Kolkata, Mahendra Singh Dhoni in Jharkhand or Tendulkar everywhere. Had Dravid met the Formula One champion Damon Hill he might have borrowed the poster that Hill had over his desk which said in large letters: ‘I am not a nice guy’. Niceness is not marketable; Dravid is tough-minded (as he showed when declaring the Indian innings with Tendulkar unbeaten on 194 in Multan), but lacks the edge that divides people. Had Tendulkar not existed (and it would have been impossible to invent him), we would be singing hosannas to Dravid today with the same spontaneity and lack of self consciousness with which we call Tendulkar god. The media would be holding debates over who the greatest Indian batsman was – Dravid or Sunil Gavaskar. After rolling out the clichés (comparisons are odious etc) someone digging deeper would unearth the fact that Gavaskar averaged 44 in 23 India wins while Dravid averages 67 in 44 India victories (his average in defeats, 26, gives us a hint to his value). Or that Dravid averages eight runs per innings better abroad than at home or that only one of his 27 centuries was made in a lost game. ---

A long article. Only posted the first few paragraphs. Read the whole thing here: http://www.tehelka.com/story_main43.asp?filename=Ne281109coverstory.asp I know we've seen a lot of articles on Tendulkar over the past few weeks. Here's one for an equally deserving batsman. I particularly enjoyed the part where he spoke about the people's attraction to Tendulkar vs. just going on with life when Dravid's at the crease. While it can be interpreted in other ways, my reading is that the emotions Dravid evokes are different to what Sehwag or Tendulkar bring, but that makes him no lesser a batsman. Absolutely privileged to have him represent my country (for sports or otherwise). Just as a note: please dont confuse this as an argument as to why Dravid is better than Tendulkar. The batsmen, in their styles, and in the roles, are so different, that the comparison is invalid, and they are such big icons for the game (in India) that dont deserve to be reduced just some numbers.

[The Dark Horse]

nice:nice:

[Sachinism]

Good article. I guess he's not called for no reason. He is the backbone of the team

[Holysmoke]

From the article

" Alone among his generation he pulled the fast bowler, either standing tall and dismissing the ball with a roll of the wrists or pirouetting to get both the timing and the placement right, and occasionally ending up facing the wicket keeper. "

and

"Mahela Jayawardene alone among modern batsmen plays the leg glance with the assurance of a Dravid, who, in the course of a long innings suggests that the on side belongs to him."

Why are they discounting Sachin from the discussion. Sachin plays the pull and the hook, and has the best leg glance in the game, surely.

[Chandan]

Dravid was looking in incredible touch today and was able to score runs at the strike rate of 89+ even through that ultra defensive field and bowling while everyone else has been struggling to score runs freely. And it was a terribly unlucky way to be dismissed! Twice in 3 innings he has been unlucky to get out! He was truly looking like the king today.

[flamy]

Told ya Dravid is God.

[Gambit]

Really good article. The last ton by Dravid in a match won by India against a decent team came in 2005 . Hope this one ends in victory.

[graphic23]

Yeah, I forgot to mention that Chandan actually pointed this article out to me. Thanks Chandan! And again, a great read - even more so in today's context.

[Guest Gunner]

Btw, Dravid went past Allan Border today. How come no one is talking about it? :dontknow:

[Sachinism]

^^ :cheer: Dravid - Well played Indian Wall

[Sachinism]

Dravid is only 163 runs behind Ponting :hmmm:

[Guest Gunner]

Dravid is only 163 runs behind Ponting :hmmm:

Dravid will go past :punter: in this series.

[bunny]

Nice article. I feel proud to be a die-hard RD fan. Having said that I can still see RD's career is going to end sooner rather than later :(

[Ram]

He's looking REALLY good. Its almost as though he has managed to reverse time. There's a sense of certainty and solidity in his batting that has been missing for a while now. Even when he made that 100 against England last year and all those 50s against New Zealand, he did not look this sure. If Rahul Dravid is back to his old self, then God save the bowling attacks of the world against this Indian team. In the last 4 years, we have had some significant additions to our batting order (Gautam at the top, Dhoni and UV in the lower order), the return to the throne of the emperor and the resurrection of a dashing opener. Only Dravid at no.3 was the chink in the armor. If he's firing too, no wonder this team ends up scoring 385 in a single day after losing 4 wickets in the opening 40 mins.

[Guest Gunner]

I think RD is good for another 12 months, no doubt about that for the moment. But do you guys realize what a huge hole we are going to have at No.3 when he leaves?

[Sachinism]

I think RD is good for another 12 months' date=' no doubt about that for the moment. But do you guys realize what a huge hole we are going to have at No.3 when he leaves?[/quote'] I think we have plenty of time to start grooming a few batsmen for that spot and then see who is best suited. I doubt we will be able to replace RD, but we do have a few good batsmen out there

[Guest Gunner]

We have as big a problem as Australia couple of years ago. RD, SRT and VVS are good for another 18-24 months max. Unless we unearth 3 quality batsman by that time we are going to be in deep doodoo.

[Sooda]

^Three words buddy- Virat, Suresh and...erm..Subramaniam. :P More seriously, I think Vijay can be a good test batsman at no3, Raina does need to work on the ol short ball weakness, hopefully once thats done he'll be a long term test prospect; certainly has the strokes. No one can replace those three by way of being as good, but there are batters in the pipeline.

[bunny]

From the article and Why are they discounting Sachin from the discussion. Sachin plays the pull and the hook, and has the best leg glance in the game, surely.

Sachin's leg glance and flicks are surely the best, but his pull and cut is hardly orthodox. The pull works for him especially when he is already on the backfoot, but when he is committed on the front-foot he usually ends up pulling towards midwicket. It works for him then also but it looks a bit ungainly unlike the rest of his game. One thing which RD doesnt get enough praise is his judgement and leave of short deliveries and bouncers. Probably the best ever for players who initially commit on the front foot instead of back and across. He rarely gets out fending at short deliveries.

[bunny]

^Three words buddy- Virat, Suresh and...erm..Subramaniam. :P More seriously, I think Vijay can be a good test batsman at no3, Raina does need to work on the ol short ball weakness, hopefully once thats done he'll be a long term test prospect; certainly has the strokes. No one can replace those three by way of being as good, but there are batters in the pipeline.

I like Vijay's prospects. But Raina will find it really hard. He has too many holes in his game, and his temperament isnt the best either. That said cricket is biased towards LHBs and he might still make it. The selectors should concentrate on unearthing LHBs in domestics.