Did Rahul Dravid deserve the same of amount of love as Sachin?

"Dravid is A Player Who Will Walk On Broken Glass If His Team Wants Him To"—-Navjot Singh Sidhu

      He didn’t attract crowds. He didn’t strike fear in the hearts of bowlers the way the little master did. Forever over shadowed - that for you people, is Rahul Dravid. Just like all his great innings, his last match(Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals) was also over shadowed by another player. Which brings us to the question – did Rahul Dravid deserve the same amount of love as Sachin.
      The answer - YES. He literally did everything for Indian cricket. From helping India beat Australia after following on, to keeping wickets, fielding at slip and of course, being the WALL. He provided the much needed stability to the batting order. While batsman came and went at the other end, Dravid remained the epitome of patience and consistency. Sure, he didn’t dominate or dismantle the bowling attack like the way Sachin or Ganguly did, but Dravid did something greater. He always put the needs of the team above his own. The though process of every Indian was the same – 1st, is Sachin still there ? If he isn’t , do we still have Dravid ?
Beyond all this, what made Rahul Dravid special was the way he conducted himself. Always soft spoken, Dravid represents the breed of cricketer every young person should want to be. He wasn’t born with god given talent, but he compensated for it with skill honed through hard work. His greatest strength was that any young person could relate to him and hope to attain his stature. He showed the world that anyone could be great given the right kind of attitude and dedication. During a time when aggression was expressed verbally, Dravid showed how to go about showing it through his batting.
      Now, let us look at the things that went against him. The 1st thing that strikes us about Dravid’s game – he didn’t score at a rapid rate with tons of sixes and fours. His game was made up of mostly singles and doubles with fours coming in regular intervals and sixes very rarely. His game wasn’t perfect and the country didn’t idolize him like they did about Sachin. He didn’t attract huge crowds or line of advertisers like other Indian cricketers. But the thing that makes us remember him less is that his knocks were always overshadowed. Here are a few instances
1. 95 on debut at Lords, debutant Ganguly scored 131.
2. 145 in the 1999 World Cup against Sri Lanka, Ganguly scored 183.
3. 50 of 22 balls against New Zealand, Sachin and Sehwag scored centuries.
4. 270 at Rawalpindi against Pakistan, Sehwag scored 309 in the same series.
5. Last match of career, also Sachin’s last match in colored clothes.

        In a country where Cricket is considered a Relegion, with Sachin Tendulkar being the God, Dravid worked as the savior of the Indian cricket team by stepping up whenever he was needed in any way that was required. He also served as an excellent example and mentor for the young cricketers in the team. The best example for this is the rise of young talent like Sanju Samson in the Rajastan Royals team. To sum it up, Dravid never possessed the aura that Sachin brought upon the country, but in terms of contribution to the Indian Cricket team, I believe Dravid is right up there with the all the greats of the game and hence deserves the love we as a country should have showered.