Almost three weeks have elapsed since my only Hero Rahul
Sharad Dravid called it a day, but I have not been able to gather my thoughts
and write a tribute for him. They say that when the heart is heavy words are
few; nothing can be more apt to describe the state of my mind.
It is amazing how a person can impact your life, without
actually ever having met you. Maybe there are connections beyond the realm of discovered
knowledge. From the debut at Lords to his last game at Adelaide Oval, Rahul
Dravid held me captivated. Like a firefly to a fire, I sucked on to every run he
scored, every catch he held, every word he uttered. No individual has made an
impact on my life like this man; a man I have looked up to since my awkward
teenage days.
Rahul Dravid, to me, is the greatest batsman to have played
the game. I have not seen Sir Don Bradman; and have very faint recollection of
seeing Sir Viv Richards and Sunil Gavaskar play; but it really does not matter.
But, it would be wrong, on my part, to call him the greatest batsman; he is, in
fact, the greatest cricketer to have played the game. For cricket is a team
game; a player’s performance is as good as the teams; it does not matter how
many centuries you score, what matters at the end of the day is that the team
is winning. No individual has made an impact to the team’s cause more than this
person.
Rahul Dravid’s runs, catches, partnerships and centuries are
facts to be recorded and discussed by the cricket historians and critics;
unfortunately I am neither. But to celebrate his career I would like to mention
my favourite Rahul Dravid innings-The 148, which he scored against Allan Donald
and Co on a bouncy Johannesburg pitch, in 1997, will forever remain etched in
my memory. It is that innings which defined my relationship with this man; incidentally
it was his first test match hundred. Thereafter, Dravid scored many a hundreds;
I remember waking up at unearthly hours to watch him score his amazing hundreds
in New Zealand, the epic knock at Kolkata, the Adelaide double hundred and his
hundreds in England were always special. Rahul Dravid did not score hundreds
alone; he made priceless thirties, fifties and eighties which often go
uncounted. But beyond his personal milestones, his biggest contribution was to
the team cause. More often than not, a good innings from him would ensure India
an advantageous position. Most of India’s contemporary greats have flourished because
of this man; Tendulkar’s hundreds, Kumble’s wickets and Ganguly’s wins, were
often made possible because of Rahul Dravid.
Cricketers, these days, earn a lot of money; with India’s
economy on the upswing, they lead glamorous lives matched only by the Bollywood
brigade. What separates Rahul Dravid from the rest is the respect that he
earned. No matter how much you are willing to spend, respect can’t be bought,
it has to be earned. No cricketer in world cricket is loved and respected more
by his contemporaries, than this man. Integrity, honour, respect, discipline
are old school qualities, which have little value among today’s generation. But
these are values which epitomises Rahul Dravid. A self effacing, selfless
individual who never got his due credit, Rahul went about his business with
minimum fuss and maximum effort. A self
confessed creature of routine, Rahul Dravid lived the life of a monk. It is not
surprising therefore that his batting is a zen-like experience; it’s an oasis
of calm in the cacophony of modern day cricket. Nothing is more relaxing and peaceful
than watching Rahul Dravid bat.
An emotional state of mind is very often not conducive to
flowing prose; very often words and sentences come out in splutters because the
heart and mind are not working in tandem. Words can never do justice to the
feelings that I have for this man. They say cricket would be poorer for his
absence; it indeed will be. More than anything else, the values that he brought
along with him to the cricket field will be sorely missed. I am privileged to have
witnessed Rahul Dravid play this game and I will continue to follow him, because
in some incomprehensible way he has become my guiding light.
