The Wall

It's been almost two years since we last saw Rahul Dravid in an international test match. Being an avid RD fan, the moment he announced his retirement, I was crestfallen.

We would never be seeing this colossal cricketer ever again.Whenever there was a match in which India was playing and if Dravid was batting, my brother, my dad and I would be glued to the TV set. The three of us were ardent fans of this Saintly player.

I wanted to pay tribute in the form of posting a blog, but I was really short of words and couldn't put up a decent post. But today, on Star Sports, I happened to see an episode of Masterclass that showcased Rahul Dravid, the way he was interacting with the host, the way he was explaining his style of play inspired me to take up the task of writing a post on RD

Dravid's was a vast and successful career. The way he constructed his innings, the kind of shots he played and the number of deliveries he faced, were all indicators of the nature of his batting. Long story short, his was a arduous career, where a lot of effort was put in to overcome the various challenges that the world threw at him. He was not superbly talented, he did not have superpowers of Superman or the strength of Hulk, but what he had was the will of the Dark Knight combined with perseverance of Milkha Singh. His persona was a rare combinations of extreme self-righteousness and unparalelled sacrificing on and off the field, he was always Sanitly.

And that's why RD didn't have an avid fan following inspite of having an admirable stockpile of character.

Dravid's fans are esoteric, they are not part of the status quo who shout and cry over the disappearing sixes or the helicopter's or the scoops or the upper cut, they find their niche in the way 'he leaves the ball outside off stumps, the way he ducks those skull crushing bouncers', they are in awe of his straight drives, the square cuts, the on drives and the cover drive and finally the solid defense. Dravid was not a mass entertainer, he was silent performer. Commissioner Gordon in the movie Dark Knight describes Batman as 'a silent guardian, a watchful protector A dark knight', Dravid was in more ways like Batman than anyone else, he didn't ask to be thanked when he rescued India numerous times and finally when he called it a day, he didn't ask for a grand farewell or a sumptuous parting gift, he just left the field like he'd done nothing.

He was not the kind of person who would celebrate his century like 'Tarzan' beating his chest or like the current generation of players who  just puke swear words after they score a century, his style was simplistic yet sophisticated, his style allured only an enigmatic set of people.

That's what Dravid has been all about, a total no non-sense guy with immense passion and devotion. He doesn't entertain the conventional, he is more like abstract art, you need to have the taste to admire it.

In an interview with Boman Irani, RD, gave an amazing answer to a very interesting question,

Boman Irani : Do nice guys finish last?

Rahul Dravid : Nice guys finish where they want to finish.

That summed it up, not only Dravid is, was and will be an amazing athlete, he will be a gentleman eternally.

I really don't know why I wrote this article, but I had the urge to write it.