Rahul Dravid : The Dark Knight

It is hard to believe the reality. The very fact that Rahul Dravid will never be playing cricket again.

I am an out-right Sachin fan, without doubt. But only yesterday I realised that deep within, I wanted Dravid to win. Dravid to get his share of his glory. But alas! As faith was cruel to him, as always. Faith awarded the final glory moment to Sachin, rather than Dravid.

Sachin’s end to his career has been more of a fairytale, obviously ignoring his form. Let it be an IPL victory, or a World Cup, or even this mid-season T20 tournament, he has emerged as the winner. Or rather, his team sent him off with a perfectly. But not in the case of Dravid.

The cruel irony is in the fact that the man, who has stood for his team whenever the team needed,  could not get what he deserved. Yes, he came agonisingly close, but every time, each and every time, the opposition won. Be it the 2003 World Cup finals, or IPL finals in 2009, or yesterday.  Possibly his only moment of glory is the "shared victory" in the 2002 Champions trophy. But still, no title to his name.

But unlike his fans, he does not care. All he cared was to play for his country. But a rather apt sentence would be : Play for his country’s needs.

If you want him as an opener, he was ready.  As a wicket keeper, ready. As a lower-middle order batsman, he was ready. He was ready to do anything for his team. He even gave up his ODI spot in late 2009 to accomodate more "aggressive" youngsters into the team. And he readily played for the team when he was called back in 2011, after these youngsters couldn’t play in quality bowling conditions.

Those very sacrifices justifies his character as a cricket. He played cricket as it was meant to be played. He played for the team, without chasing any records. He was never in the limelight; silently executing his job to perfection while the celebrated likes of Sachin and Ganguly got all the praise. It is very hard to find a player like that, very hard. Yet, he carried on.

He did not have the elegance of Sachin, nor did he have the aggressiveness of Ganguly. All he had was determination, determination to bail out the team from dire situations. Even then, he never got his deserved share of praise. The best example is that of 2001 eden gardens test against Austrailia. While Laxman’s 281 got all the attention, his 180 was ignored by many, undermining its significance for India’s victory in that match.  Possibly the only time he got the praise he deserved was after the 2003 Adelaide test. Nevertheless, he silently continued to perform.

Finally, when he decided to bow out, he never got the ending he deserved. He lost the final matches of all the formats he played. He cried at the end. But he did not cry for losing. He cried realising the fact that he can never play cricket again.

I will terribly miss him. No one can defend a ball like him. His square-cuts were a text book masterpiece. It will be hard to find someone like him. I did find a small analogy with Rafael Nadal, but no one can be a gentleman like he was.

Finally, a quote I made for his rememberance.

"He is not the hero the Indian Cricket needed..He is the hero the indian cricket deserved..He is the silent guardian..the watchful protector…the wall"