CricInfo Profile

Rahul Dravid, a cricketer who seamlessly blends an old-world classicism with a new-age professionalism, is the best No. 3 batsman to play for India – and might even be considered one of the best ever by the time his career is done. He already averages around 60 at that position, more than any regular No. 3 batsman in the game’s history, barring Don Bradman. Unusually for an Indian batsman, he also averages more overseas – around 60, again – than at home. But impressive as his statistics are, they cannot represent the extent of his importance to India, or the beauty of his batsmanship.

When Dravid began playing Test cricket, he was quickly stereotyped as a technically correct player capable of stonewalling against the best attacks – his early nickname was ‘The Wall’ – but of little else. As the years went by, though, Dravid, a sincere batsman who brought humility and a deep intelligence to his study of the game, grew in stature, finally reaching full blossom under Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy. As a New India emerged, so did a new Dravid: first, he put on the wicketkeeping gloves in one-dayers, and transformed himself into an astute finisher in the middle-order; then, he strung together a series of awe-inspiring performances in Test matches, as India crept closer and closer to their quest of an overseas series win.

Dravid’s golden phase began, arguably, in Kolkata 2001, with a supporting act, when he made 180 to supplement VVS Laxman’s classic effort of 281 against Australia. But from then on, Dravid became India’s most valuable player, saving them Tests at Port Elizabeth, Georgetown and Trent Bridge, winning them Tests at Headlingley, Adelaide, Kandy and Rawalpindi. At one point during this run, he carved up four centuries in successive innings, and hit four double-centuries in the space of 15 Tests, including in historic away-wins at Adelaide and Rawalpindi. As India finished off the 2004 Pakistan tour on a winning note, on the back of Dravid’s epic 270, his average crept past Sachin Tendulkar’s – and it seemed no aberration.

Dravid's amazing run was no triumph of substance over style, though, for he has plenty of both. A classical strokeplayer who plays every shot in the book, he often outscores team-mates like Tendulkar and Laxman in the course of partnerships with them, and while his pulling and cover-driving is especially breathtaking, he has every other shot in the book as well. He is both an artist and a craftsman, repeatedly constructing innings that stand out not merely for the beauty of their execution, but for the context in which they come. By the time he entered his 30s, Dravid was already in the pantheon of great Indian batsmen, alongside Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar. In October 2005, he was appointed captain the one-day side, began with a thumping 6-1 hammering of Sri Lanka in a home series, and was soon given responsibility of the Test side as well, taking over from the controversy-shrouded Sourav Ganguly. What else could he achieve? Anything  

By Amit Varma 

 

Overall Career Statistics

 

Batting and Fielding (as of Dec 2005)

 

class	mat	inns	no	runs	hs	ave	bf	sr	100	50	4s	6s	ct
Tests	92	155	18	7894	270	57.62	18734	42.13	20	38	987	12	128
ODIs	275	254	34	8843	153	40.19	12604	70.16	11	65	743	27	162
First-class	205	333	46	16417	270	57.20			45	82			243
Limited Overs	372	344	49	12776	153	43.30			19	91			196

 

Bowling (as of Dec 2005)

class	mat	balls	runs	wkts	bbi	bbm	ave	econ	sr	4	5	10
Tests	92	130	29	1	1/18	1/18	39.00	1.94	120.00	0	0	0
ODIs	275	186	170	4	2/43	2/43	42.50	5.48	46.50	0	0	0
First-class	205	617	273	5	2/16		54.60	2.65	123.40		0	0
Limited Overs	372	477	421	4	2/43	2/43	105.25	5.29	119.25	0	0	0

 

Wicket-keeping (as of Dec 2005)

class	mat	cat	st	dismissals	most dismissals	most ct	bat (runs)	bat ave.
Tests	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

ODI

73

72

14

86

3

3

2300

44.23

 

Captaincy (as of Dec 2005)

class	mat	won	lost	draw/nr	success rate	tosses won	bat (runs)	bat ave	100	50
Tests	5	5	6	1	41.66 %	3	138	17.25	0	0
ODIs	27	14	12	1	51.85 %	14	967	48.35	1	9

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