Dravid and the mastery of the struggle

[akshayxyz]

http://sidveeblogs.wordpress.com/2011/06/23/dravid-and-the-mastery-of-the-struggle/

.... .... .... .... I think of all this when I watch Rahul Dravid. His daily search for struggle, his eagerness to bat on a spiked pitch, his desire to treat every ball like a grenade, his technique to counter any ball on any pitch and, most striking of all, his temperament to put behind the struggle that went before and focus on the struggle that awaits. Not for him a flat pitch on a sunny day. He’s not going to derive immense joy in hitting through the line. He craves a that masochistic joy. For me, an ideal Dravid innings needs a most challenging pitch. If it’s a batting beauty with the ball coming on to the bat, give me Sehwag or Laxman; if there’s a truly great array of bowlers set to be unleashed, give me Tendulkar. If it’s a minefield, give me Dravid. Great bowlers and a taut state of the match are a bonus. Kolkata, Adelaide and Rawalpindi are awesome but I want Headingley, Perth and Jo’burg. I want Kingston. I want Hamilton. The pitch must be spiced up or crumbling or smattered with cracks. A crater would be ideal. Or even a sandpit. Dravid cannot take stance knowing what the ball is going to do after pitching. He must not be offered predictable bounce. It’s all too insulting. Dravid is the anti-McGrath. A batting metronome. Ball after ball, over after over, he wears bowlers down with his patience. It’s almost as if he has a plan: leave, leave, defend, leave, score. He sets up the bowler, making him bowl where he wants. Amid all this he calculates the vagaries of the pitch. It’s when he’s in a struggle that he’s in the zone. .. .. .. ..

It could be one of you ICFers. This is how performance/player should be appreciated, w/o getting into comparisons, rankings, standard deviations etc. Good write up.

[say2chander]

Another fine knock. Hope it continues over next year. Tough matches ahead.

[Sidhoni]

:two_thumbs_up: :hatsoff: :hatsoff: :hatsoff:

[Jadoo]

Great write-up, a truly amazing batsman.

[Rahul Dravid]

Legend. The Best Ever.

[coffee_rules]

May be it has worked for him all his career. But the guy has to purchase more for 272 balls. Get close to 150-175. He wasted too many balls ..he has 16-17 dot balls at 52*. It was wearing himself down as well.

[Pagalpanti]

@coffee_rules: He didn't waste balls. It was a mine-field of a pitch out there. While there was a ball to hit, batsman weren't too sure what the ball could do after it would pitch. Thats why on these pitches batsmen with more patience succeed. Most of the Indian batsman are shot makers. Apart from Vijay and Harbhajan almost everyone got out playing shots.

[SachDan]

http://sidveeblogs.wordpress.com/2011/06/23/dravid-and-the-mastery-of-the-struggle/ It could be one of you ICFers. This is how performance/player should be appreciated, w/o getting into comparisons, rankings, standard deviations etc. Good write up.

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan, a former assistant editor at Cricinfo and one of the finest cricket writers in our country (settled in Ameerika) atm :two_thumbs_up: Here are some gems from him.. http://www.indiancricketfans.com/showthread.php?t=128201&highlight=vaidyanathan http://www.espncricinfo.com/decadereview2009/content/story/439734.html http://www.espncricinfo.com/decadereview2009/content/story/439734.htmlhttp://www.indiancricketfans.com/showpost.php?p=1392413&postcount=57