the author of the article has rightly pointed out that till the Oval test, dravid used to thrive only when someone else had made batting a lot easier by taking the opposition bowlers apart. like laxman did at eden gardens, like ganguly did at taunton and lords and like tendulkar at headingly. its only since the oval test that he has proved that he can be the main run scorer and the catalyst for other batesmen to play well.
as for whether his centuries have produced a result for india or not, its mostly luck that decides whether a hundred gets considered a match winning one or not. shewag made 197 in australia (when was the last time an indian opener made a big hundred in australia) and ended up on the losing side! so people have forgotten his century. tendulkar and laxman made brilliant hundreds in the last test at sydney but the match was drawn.
had agarkar not taken those 6 odd wickets, then dravid's hundred in the 2nd test in australia would also not have resulted in a victory for india. the way laxman's 271 wouldn't have either, had not india & harbajan singh managed to run through 7 aussie wickets in the last session of that freak test.
Dravid is unarguably the best that india has produced after Gavaskar.in the next 3 years he could well pip gavaskar at the top. Sachin's story could be about the "failures" due to his lack of performance at the crunch time and Dravid's is all about doing it right when it matters the most ala s. waugh.
Fine write up by Rediff on Indian batsman Rahul Dravid. One must say that our distinguished cricket writer Kunal Pradhan is serving the Gentleman's game well through a constructive and creative approach. Many among us enjoy reading such healthy articles. There is enormous flow, dynamism and a forward movement in Pradhan's way of reporting. Such writings could inspire and encourage our cricketers to perform even better. Who knows ?
Who says good guys finish last?The man who was ever the bridesmaid and never the bride has finally come out of the shadows and is seeking his rightful place under the sun.Long has he been playing second fiddle to his more illustrious batting partners but never has that bothered him for all he's played for is the country. That he's second only to the Don,that he's the only player to score a century in every test playing nation,that he's scored five test double hundreds, that he's scored a century in each innings of a match(second only to Gavaskar), means little to him for what matters more is the vital role he has played in most of India's victories both at home and abroad. His performances at Headingly,Oval, Rawalpindi,Adelaide,Kolkata will be talked about for generations to come. Dravid's wicket is priceless and every team playing India knows that (just ask Pakistan!),and every team discusses ways of finding cracks in this Great Wall for they all respect him as a player and as one not to be taken lightly. A gentleman of the game ,a fine idol and role model,he is definitely up there with the pantheons of cricket.This wall will always stand tall.We are greatful.Thank you Rahul!
Rahul is already a great batsman and he may go on to achieve that no other batsman has achieved. In fact, he is the best batsman in the world in test cricket today and no one can deny this fact.
Dravid heading towards greatness is an understatement of the year.
He is already great and made his place among the all-time greats.
An Indian team lesser known for successive wins on batting heroics has won some of the last few tests like Kolkata 01, Madras 01, Adelaide 01 against the Aussies, Multan and Rawalpindi 04 against Pak again Kolkata 05 against Pak has almost all through one common factor RAHUL DRAVID. There are other wins too and other great performances by the team and Dravid in particular, but these are the ones, where Dravid has been by and large responsible for the ultimate win.
He has played some good hands in matches where India earned a draw or finally meandered out into a draw.
So by his last 3 years performance, he has definitely earned his share of greatness for the Indian team.
I just wish, he goes on and on till he hangs his boots ....
