Probably I
should have written this much before, somewhere around March 2012. But my
timing is not as good as the man I am writing about. Since the day I started
watching cricket, I have been a big fan of Sachin. On match days, his
performance used to decide my mood. A score below expectation would drive me to
melancholy. Interest in a cricket match was alive, as long as Sachin was in the
middle. For such a fan, I was happy when Dravid used to get out, since that
brought Sachin to the crease in tests. In one dayers, Rahul’s dismissal didn’t
matter even more because everyone else seemed a better entertainer. In the
times when, I cared more about the boundaries rather than a single, Rahul Dravid was a player I hated most.
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Things started
to change after the epic Eden match. By the time an established player in the
Indian line up Dravid provided the platform where others danced. After being labeled
as a Test specialist in early part of his career, he fought his way back in to
the team. Rahul’s career seems to be a constant fight. He wasn’t flamboyant
with the bat like Sehwag or as gifted as Sourav Ganguly. When others entrained us with
their talent, here was a man quietly fighting for every run. Most of his innings comprised of ones and twos
and rare threes. Every run were earned rather than scored. When he batted the boundaries seemed bigger and the bowler seemed
better than he actually is. Since he didn’t have the talent of a Sachin Tendulkar
to hit the good balls to boundaries, he waited for the poor ones. And while
playing against international teams of highest caliber poor deliveries are hard
to find. But the biggest and probably the most important virtue of the was
patience. His batting was a constant battle between the bowlers skill and the batsman's will. About who will
give up first, the bowler or the batsman? Having loads of patience, most of the
time, it was the batsman. In one dayers, even after being a so called senior and
established player, in the team, he was always in the firing line, whenever a name
was required to be dropped. He kept wickets, bowled spin bowling (he has five
international wickets) and when everything still didn’t work out; he carried
drinks for his team mates. No fuss, no ego…”If this is what makes my team win,
this is what I will do” attitude (very unlike one of his team mate who had
refused to carry drinks on his debut tour).
Rahul Dravid, as
a person is unknown to me. A person I have only heard and read about (Articles
by his wife and few others in “Rahul Dravid: Timeless Steel” gives a very good
insight to the person he is). In 2005, two of my seniors visited Bangalore
during summer training. Since both were, like me in 2005 and till date, a big
Dravid fan, wanted to meet him in person. When the both arrived at his
residence, naturally the security guard didn’t allow them in and expectedly wasn’t
convinced about their loyalty to the star batsman. Since both my seniors are
very persuasive, which is very unlike me, they tried their level best to let
them meet him once. By that time a middle aged lady returning from grocery
arrived who luckily saw the boys pleading with the security guard. He was Dravid’s
mother. She invited them inside and asked Dravid to meet the boys. Dravid obediently
met my seniors, smilingly posed for the camera and wished them luck. If Dravid
had refused or his mother had not paid heed to my seniors, probably they would
have returned back sad but wouldn’t have minded since it is expected from the
stars. But this incident showed the foundation on which he built his life. Here
is a person with so much adulation in a cricket crazy nation, but still taking
time out for two strangers. That day Dravid showed genius is humble. And by
then probably he had realized that someday it will end, that success has an
expiry date.
Another incident
which I had read about is like this. When one interviewer had asked him what drives
him to perform he had answered on following lines “…..everywhere I have
travelled in India, I have seen talent. I have seen people more talented than
me. But somehow in the struggle of life, they left their passion. Probably
circumstances forced them but at the end they couldn’t be in the top 11 player
in a country of a billion people. I play hard because I feel I owe them something.
I am here, soaking in the adulation, because they are not here…..”. What a
wonderful thought it was. When in the glory of success people tend to be pompous,
here is a man thinking about the less fortunate.
Coming to
adulation, Rahul Dravid will never be as celebrated as Sachin. And he has never
been as celebrated as some of his team mates. Starting from his debut match,
the lime light has been on someone else. In his debut test match (and also in
World Cup 1999 match vs. Sri Lanka), it was Sourav Ganguly who was praised. In
2001 he was in the shadows of a Laxman. Dravid’s performances were like that of
the Cinematographer or the Director in movie production, while the hero is the
face of the movie, the strings are pulled by someone else.
Probably the
only time he got all the attention he deserved was during his retirement press
conference. But during all these, while we would have complained and would have
felt envious, he scored runs. Probably when he wears that helmet, the steel
frame isolates his from the world. He dives deeper into a zone where the only
thing he has to fight against is his own temptations. A zone which you and me
can only think and imagine about.
My biggest joy
in my life as a cricket fan has been watching my two heroes (Sachin an Dravid) play together in a
T-20 match in Jaipur. Of course in a perfect life, I would have wanted to see
Sachin and Rahul in whites, involved in a riveting partnership against Australia
(I would have preferred Steve Waugh as captain, he, being my another hero), but life
always doesn’t give you what you desire.
Another incident
which brought a big smile on my face was when I excitedly opened the wrapping
of “Out of My Comfort Zone” (Steve Waugh’s Autobiography) and discovered that
the foreword has been written by Rahul Dravid.
In the many
years of playing cricket, Rahul Dravid, has been an inspiration. An example
that, you need not been talented to be successful and hard work along with your
attitude is what matters. He has been a joy to watch and an example to follow. He brought a sense of
relief and assurance whenever I saw him at 1st Slip or the third
name in the batting line up read “R Dravid”.
Although I still
wonder why was he called “The Wall”. Was it because when he batted one end of the
lineup was impregnable or was it because he built his innings through singles /
twos like building a wall brick by brick ?
Probably, he himself would find it
difficult to answer.
rabindra:-
27th Sept'12, 02:00 AM.
Mathura.
rabindra:-
27th Sept'12, 02:00 AM.
Mathura.
