What Can We Learn From Rahul Dravid | Our Cricketing Hero
Grew up watching him smack the opposition all around the park while standing at the crease nonchalantly, Rahul Dravid has been one of my cricketing heroes for far too long. Whenever someone talks about him, my mind flashes back to the famous Adelaide match when he scored 233 and 72* and won us the match with his classic square cut to Stuart MacGill.
But before we talk more about the The Wall, let’s have a look at his remarkable stats as well:
164 Test Matches and 344 ODIs, 48 international centuries, a 17 year international career, over 10,000 runs in each format says it all
Even if we stop talking about the numbers for once and look at how he carried himself on and off the field, he would still be a notch above the rest of them. His ability to contribute to victories in any condition, the consistency with which he carried on and his adaptiveness is unmatched. Whenever the team needed him, Dravid was always there. He opened the batting, kept the wickets and even stepped away from the team to make way for the youngsters.
In Navjot Singh Sidhu’s word: “Rahul Dravid is a player who would walk on broken glass if his team asks him to.”
Whenever the much famed batting lineup of Team India collapsed, he was there anchoring the innings at one end. Whether it was the Australians touring India in 2000/01 or the Indians touring England in 2011, he was there for the team. There can be no apt personification of his resilience than his 40 ball stay on the pitch for that one single run against Australia.
Rahul Dravid’s exploits were not just limited to the field but he is also firing away on all cylinders off the field. Be it mentoring the young guns for Under-19, India A or the IPL, delivering the famous Don Bradman Oration or steadying the Rajasthan Royals when they were rocked by the spot fixing scandals, his genuine and graceful demeanor has always complemented his skills on the ground.
We can refer to Rahul Dravid as the unit of integrity at an everyday level, an ethics of scale which moves from the training field to the great matches and yet has the adaptability to apply itself diligently to a simple game. The combination of perseverance and resilience, determination and discipline, as well as humility and team-before-self attitude — that is what Rahul Dravid has taught me.
Following Dravid as a fan has made me realized that a lot of challenges will come throughout life, but as long as we have the determination to face and overcome the obstacles, things will be get better. Giving up should never be an option instead improving upon should be. We should always strive for excellence without sacrificing morals. Even if we do succeed in achieving our goals once or twice, that must never be enough but being consistent with the process, adapting with time, repeating the good and learning from the bad, is what matters.
“If you really want to see aggression, look into Dravid’s eyes” — Matthew Hayden
There are a lot of learnings and takeaways from the vast cricket career that Rahul Dravid had as a player and a coach. He is not just a role model to me but to scores and scores of youngsters all around the world. Thinking about what Brett Lee said about him, it seems like he was very much correct in his evaluation of the wall.
“If you can’t get along with Dravid, you’re struggling in life” — Brett Lee
