It has been quite an emotional time this, for all of us. It's tough to digest, you know, that Rahul Dravid won't be taking the field anymore. It was one of those goodbyes which you wanted to avoid as long as you could. He had always been there for the team, for the nation and for the fan. He held that one end strong, gave his 100% every single time in his typical classy, determined and gritty way which, I believe, only he was/is capable of. It was just the way he played his Cricket.
There was always so much to learn from him for me as Cricket fan. You wouldn't associate flamboyance when you thought of Dravid. You would think of him as a common man who played hard and gave everything he had every single time for the team. He wasn't blessed with extraordinary talent. He didn't debut for India when he was a teenager. He was just like the most of us. All of us aren't blessed with great talent, so we try and make an effort to give the best at whatever we love to do, in order to keep it doing. And, on top of that it wasn't just how hard he played his Cricket which makes him the great man that he is. It is the dignity with which he played it, which puts him in a different league altogether.
The internet is filled with statistics and the numbers for what Dravid stands for. It's not Dravid's stats that I will remember for the rest of my life. What I will remember about Dravid for the rest of my life is the dignity with which he played. In Dravid's Cricket, the contest was confined just between the bat and ball and nothing else. The bowler gave everything he had into the ball he was about to bowl and Dravid made sure he gave everything he had, to deal with it. And, that's where the story ended. Dravid's Cricket ended on the field itself and it only dealt with the events that should go on in the ideal Cricket match scenario. There was no room for sledging, or for any uncalled-for gestures or for any other such thing which has nothing to do with the way Cricket is played. This is how the game is played in its unadulterated form, and basically it is this aspect of the sport with which true Cricket lovers fell in love with.
Apart from playing with dignity, Dravid also did everything which the team and the selectors asked him to do. They asked him to keep wickets, he did. They asked him to open the batting on cold English mornings by giving up his regular position, he did. They ruthlessly told him that he wasn't good enough to play limited overs Cricket and that he should concentrate on Tests more, he did. Then when they were in trouble in the ODIs in England, they asked him to come back and play, even then he did. Even in the very last match he played, he came in to bat at No.8 because of the situation his team was in. You'd expect him to enjoy his last match and at least see him bat at his normal position like any other star player playing his last match would. But, he didn't, just because the team had decided on such a strategy (however irrational it was). Not only this, but Dravid was also always ready to play second fiddle whenever it was required. Be it Laxman's 281 in Kolkata, Sehwag's 319 at Chennai or even Tendulkar's 186 in an ODI at Hyderabad. Dravid was involved in making huge partnerships in all of these. He was always there to hold that one end strong and complement the batsman in form.
The one disappointing thing Dravid has had to live through throughout his career is that brutal comparison between him and Sachin Tendulkar by the fans. I've always believed that the comparison is useless and it is like comparing apples and oranges. It takes great mental strength to ignore all that is written about you, said about you, and concentrate on your Cricket. And, it is something Dravid did as good as anyone can. You don't compare Dravid with Sachin. In fact, you don't compare Dravid with anyone. Dravid has a league of his own. He is class apart. No one was and no one can ever be as good as him. So, as a Cricket lover and a huge Dravid fan I appeal to everyone to please spare the great man with such ridiculous comparisons and also with questions like 'Who will be the next Dravid?',etc. Those who say Tendulkar is my God and Dravid isn't or the other way around are immature Cricket fans. It's time we attained maturity. I feel that we at least owe him this.
