Tribute to a Gentleman.

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.  

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 1^st 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.