RAHUL DRAVID - MY FAVOURITE PLAYER

The Dark knight of Indian Cricket, The wolf who lived for the pack, A silent warrior who guarded our fortress match after match, day after day, till he played the last match.

20th of june 1996, when he made debut at the mecca of cricket he scored 95 runs and missed the name on the LORD'S HONOUR BOARD by a mere 5 runs which he later achieved in 2011.

Generally in test cricket, number 3 position or one down is considered the crucial position. When an opener gets out early, he should start buliding the foundation. If the tone and tempo of the innings is set up by the opener, he should make sure that the flow of runs don't dry up. Rahul Dravid in his career donned the role in the perfect way. Many famous test match wins of INDIA in the early 20th century, the score board highlights a name. May it be the eden gardens of 2001, Leeds of 2002, Adelaide of 2003, Rawalpindi of 2004,kingston of 2006, perth of 2008. He is the main stay of all these test matches. When Ganguly scored his maiden test century, laxman scored 281, sehwag's 2 triple centuries , sachin 186* in hyderabad odi, the common partner was Rahul dravid. His front foot stride and rock solid back foot defence is one of the nicest things in the game of cricket.

                             An outstanding catcher at short leg, an extra ordinary slip fielder. Most catches in test matches by a non- wicket keeper.

When team asked him to open, he said yes

When team required a wicket keeper, he said yes

When team asked him to bowl, he said yes.

He is always remembered for his heroics in test cricket, but he is one of the few players to score 10000 plus runs both in ODI'S AND TEST MATCHES.  At one point of time, he has the record of fastest half century by an Indian when he scored 50 of 22 balls against Newzealand. He also has the record of hatrick sixes in t20's against england in 2011.

I admire him a lot because he is  always a team man. How many legends of the game would like to coach the u-19's when you get the chance to coach the strongest cricket team in the world. The u-19 world cup win of 2018 is a perfect example. The prithvi shaw's, shubman Gill's, kamlesh Nagarkoti's, shivam mavi's, rishabh pant's, hanuma vihari's, rahane's, pandya's say about their coach a lot because at Heart Rahul Dravid is a giver. He is a perfect role model for the young stars.

To conclude Harsha bhogle once said,

For a career full of grace, charm, timing and poise, it was said that it had to end with a slog. But that was once again , what the team just needed.