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The wolf who lived for the pack

Rahul Dravid was always a team man, willing to take up challenges for the greater good; and the acceptance of challenges has defined his cricket

Harsha Bhogle

March 9, 2012

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	Rahul Dravid: attractive and correct on and off the field AFP Enlarge
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Rahul Dravid batted exactly like the person he is: stately and upright, dignity and poise his two shoulders, standing up to everything coming at him with minimum fuss. He picked his shots carefully, almost like he was weighing the risk for fear of letting himself and his side down. There was little about him that was flamboyant - there isn't with an oak - and patiently, brick by brick, he built giant edifices. He is a good man and he batted like a good man.

And like with most of his choices in life, he has chosen well again. He has not craved a full house on its feet, there has been no grandstanding. The retirement is a sports-page event not a gossip item. He knew it was time. "I'm sure you have thought it through," I said when he called. "I know this is the time," he said. "Any longer and it will be for the wrong reason." I expected nothing less from a man it has been my privilege to watch and to know for 16 years.

It was but a feather that prevented him from getting a century on debut at Lord's. He would have liked it, for he has this sense of history about him. He would have wanted to be on that honours board, and 15 years later he inscribed his name there with a Dravid special. They love him there like he is one of their own, and indeed England has been a recurring motif in his life. The 1999 World Cup; the majesty of 2002, when he outbatted the world and produced one of his finest innings in Leeds; winning a series as captain in 2007; and then those three centuries last year that reminded us once again what Test cricket was all about.

At Lord's he remained not out from No. 3; at Trent Bridge he opened the batting and was ninth out; and at The Oval, at the age of 38, he had but ten minutes between deliveries as he batted through the innings for six and a half hours, before returning to open the batting. A standing ovation had just died down before another took its place. I stood too, not for the first time.

And he loved to explore England, on foot, in buses and in trains; always asking about the latest musical and offering extended reviews of those he had seen. One such exploration took him to Scotland, from where he returned humbler, if that was indeed possible. He was getting paid to play, he said, but everyone else was paying to play - taking unpaid leave, shutting down shops, all for the sheer joy of playing. He learnt, he said, how much you can take for granted as an international star. I can see why he will continue to be a giver, why his doors will be open for other cricketers. And I hope they learn from him never to say no.

There were two things Dravid didn't really love in cricket: opening the batting and keeping wicket. He was asked to do both at various times, and I asked him if he ever contemplated saying no. He didn't enjoy it, he said, but took it as a challenge, to see how good he could be. This acceptance of challenges is what has defined his cricket and made him one of the finest team players there has been. A challenge, he said, allowed him to understand himself better, it gave him a reason to play sport. If he shied away, he would never know how good he could be. He kept wicket in about 70 one-day internationals, never most convincingly, but he allowed himself to look bad for the team to look good. It was always the team for him and in the little piece he wrote for the book that my wife Anita and I did, he quoted Kipling: for the strength of the wolf is the pack and the strength of the pack is the wolf. It was nice to see a cricketer quoting from literature.

It is away that the most memorable innings were played; in New Zealand in 1999, England in 2002, Australia and Pakistan in 2003-04, and in the West Indies in 2006. To that extent, he was the true successor to Sunil Gavaskar

The team is like a pot, Dravid often says. Some put in and some take out. The more who put in, the fuller it gets, and those were the players he enjoyed playing with the most: those who put into the pot. He was one of the leading contributors and there was never an effort at gaining sympathy or media attention for it. He gave quietly. He was one of the reasons why India recovered so quickly from the match-fixing issue around the turn of the century. India had some outstanding men of integrity at the time. Tendulkar, Dravid, Kumble, Ganguly, Laxman and Srinath. It was a good group to belong to.

The turn of the century was also the coming of age of Dravid as an international cricketer. He had proved people wrong about his ability to play one-day cricket at the World Cup but then went to Australia convinced he needed to do well there to gain respect. It is a word he will often use in conversation ("the respect in your dressing room and that of your opponents is what matters") but in quest of it that time, he tried too hard, cocooning himself into a mass of nervous energy. He struggled but returned in 2003, at the height of his powers as a batsman, to peel off a double-century in Adelaide that won India a famous Test.

He scored many in that phase, most of them away and throughout his career, his home and away averages have sat close together. It is the mark of a genuinely great player. And it is away that the most memorable innings were played: in New Zealand in 1999, England in 2002, Australia and Pakistan in 2003-04, and in the West Indies in 2006. To that extent he was the true successor to Sunil Gavaskar.

And his father will be proud of that. Oh, we family folk are suckers for that kind of sentiment. In 1994, when I used to do the highlights of domestic cricket for ESPN, Dravid's father would often call to ask if he could get highlights of his son's batting. The request was always very politely made and a thank you was always offered when I met him. You can see the shyness in the genes, the correctness. I don't mention it lightly. In our obsession with saluting the here and now we sometimes ignore what produced success. If Dravid senior was proud of his young man, Rahul was proud enough of his mother to be the photographer when she received her PhD. It might seem a small thing to do but it tells you a lot about the person. Giant edifices are built on solid foundations.

And so it is with a touch of emotion that I will say goodbye to India's finest No. 3. He wasn't the Wall, not for me. Yes, his defence was as perfect as it could get, his steeliness so admirable, but he played shots that warmed the heart. The cover drive, with the big stride forward, and the prettiest of them all - the whip through midwicket played so late and while so nimble on his toes.

He will be missed, as the great always are. He will see his children grow, take them to school, imbibe in them the reading habit (for he read more than most people I know and couldn't understand why others didn't), but from time to time he must tell the new flowers that will inevitably bloom in our cricket of the need to put grit over beauty, team over self, challenge before rejection, humility before arrogance, for that is what he stood for.

Well played, my friend. You have the honour of leaving the game richer with your legacy and none of us can ask for anything more than that.

Rahul Dravid batted exactly like the person he is: stately and upright, dignity and poise his two shoulders, standing up to everything coming at him with minimum fuss. He picked his shots carefully, almost like he was weighing the risk for fear of letting himself and his side down. There was little about him that was flamboyant - there isn't with an oak - and patiently, brick by brick, he built giant edifices. He is a good man and he batted like a good man.

And like with most of his choices in life, he has chosen well again. He has not craved a full house on its feet, there has been no grandstanding. The retirement is a sports-page event not a gossip item. He knew it was time. "I'm sure you have thought it through," I said when he called. "I know this is the time," he said. "Any longer and it will be for the wrong reason." I expected nothing less from a man it has been my privilege to watch and to know for 16 years.

It was but a feather that prevented him from getting a century on debut at Lord's. He would have liked it, for he has this sense of history about him. He would have wanted to be on that honours board, and 15 years later he inscribed his name there with a Dravid special. They love him there like he is one of their own, and indeed England has been a recurring motif in his life. The 1999 World Cup; the majesty of 2002, when he outbatted the world and produced one of his finest innings in Leeds; winning a series as captain in 2007; and then those three centuries last year that reminded us once again what Test cricket was all about.

At Lord's he remained not out from No. 3; at Trent Bridge he opened the batting and was ninth out; and at The Oval, at the age of 38, he had but ten minutes between deliveries as he batted through the innings for six and a half hours, before returning to open the batting. A standing ovation had just died down before another took its place. I stood too, not for the first time.

And he loved to explore England, on foot, in buses and in trains; always asking about the latest musical and offering extended reviews of those he had seen. One such exploration took him to Scotland, from where he returned humbler, if that was indeed possible. He was getting paid to play, he said, but everyone else was paying to play - taking unpaid leave, shutting down shops, all for the sheer joy of playing. He learnt, he said, how much you can take for granted as an international star. I can see why he will continue to be a giver, why his doors will be open for other cricketers. And I hope they learn from him never to say no.

There were two things Dravid didn't really love in cricket: opening the batting and keeping wicket. He was asked to do both at various times, and I asked him if he ever contemplated saying no. He didn't enjoy it, he said, but took it as a challenge, to see how good he could be. This acceptance of challenges is what has defined his cricket and made him one of the finest team players there has been. A challenge, he said, allowed him to understand himself better, it gave him a reason to play sport. If he shied away, he would never know how good he could be. He kept wicket in about 70 one-day internationals, never most convincingly, but he allowed himself to look bad for the team to look good. It was always the team for him and in the little piece he wrote for the book that my wife Anita and I did, he quoted Kipling: for the strength of the wolf is the pack and the strength of the pack is the wolf. It was nice to see a cricketer quoting from literature.

The team is like a pot, Dravid often says. Some put in and some take out. The more who put in, the fuller it gets, and those were the players he enjoyed playing with the most: those who put into the pot. He was one of the leading contributors and there was never an effort at gaining sympathy or media attention for it. He gave quietly. He was one of the reasons why India recovered so quickly from the match-fixing issue around the turn of the century. India had some outstanding men of integrity at the time. Tendulkar, Dravid, Kumble, Ganguly, Laxman and Srinath. It was a good group to belong to.

The turn of the century was also the coming of age of Dravid as an international cricketer. He had proved people wrong about his ability to play one-day cricket at the World Cup but then went to Australia convinced he needed to do well there to gain respect. It is a word he will often use in conversation ("the respect in your dressing room and that of your opponents is what matters") but in quest of it that time, he tried too hard, cocooning himself into a mass of nervous energy. He struggled but returned in 2003, at the height of his powers as a batsman, to peel off a double-century in Adelaide that won India a famous Test.

He scored many in that phase, most of them away and throughout his career, his home and away averages have sat close together. It is the mark of a genuinely great player. And it is away that the most memorable innings were played: in New Zealand in 1999, England in 2002, Australia and Pakistan in 2003-04, and in the West Indies in 2006. To that extent he was the true successor to Sunil Gavaskar.

And his father will be proud of that. Oh, we family folk are suckers for that kind of sentiment. In 1994, when I used to do the highlights of domestic cricket for ESPN, Dravid's father would often call to ask if he could get highlights of his son's batting. The request was always very politely made and a thank you was always offered when I met him. You can see the shyness in the genes, the correctness. I don't mention it lightly. In our obsession with saluting the here and now we sometimes ignore what produced success. If Dravid senior was proud of his young man, Rahul was proud enough of his mother to be the photographer when she received her PhD. It might seem a small thing to do but it tells you a lot about the person. Giant edifices are built on solid foundations.

And so it is with a touch of emotion that I will say goodbye to India's finest No. 3. He wasn't the Wall, not for me. Yes, his defence was as perfect as it could get, his steeliness so admirable, but he played shots that warmed the heart. The cover drive, with the big stride forward, and the prettiest of them all - the whip through midwicket played so late and while so nimble on his toes.

He will be missed, as the great always are. He will see his children grow, take them to school, imbibe in them the reading habit (for he read more than most people I know and couldn't understand why others didn't), but from time to time he must tell the new flowers that will inevitably bloom in our cricket of the need to put grit over beauty, team over self, challenge before rejection, humility before arrogance, for that is what he stood for.

Well played, my friend. You have the honour of leaving the game richer with your legacy and none of us can ask for anything more than that.

Congrats to Rahul Dravid on a fantastic career. He can be very proud about what he achieved and the way he went about his business.

Jam it was a pleasure & privilege to have playd with u and ur presence in the dressing room alwys added to our confidence. Will miss u lots

SHAH RUKH KHAN ? @iamsrk

They say sports serve society by providing vivid examples of excellence.To me the most vivid & dependable has to be Rahul Dravid.

AB de Villiers ? @ABdeVilliers17

Congrats to Rahul Dravid on an amazing career! You will be missed. Fantastic person and Cricketer! India's #wall

Suresh Raina ? @ImRaina

Wall for team but a shoulder for team mates. Impregnable for opposition, motivation fr us. That's Rahul bhai. Got my ODI & Test cap frm him.

Kevin Pietersen ? @kevinpp24

Rahul Dravid-LEGEND!! Plain & simple.. congrats on an incredible career!! India WILL miss #thewall..

Originally posted by: -x-Reshu-x-

I am a Rahul Dravid fan.

There is no simpler way of putting it. I've followed his sporting career from the time he played and led our school hockey team, then switching to cricket in college, to when he was a "hopeful" for the Indian team, to that wonderful first innings of 95 at Lords and beyond.

I was agitated when they first dropped him from the ODI squad. I'm not sure what went through his mind then, but I do know this ' he wasn't the kind of person to ask for favours. His mother must have taught him that.

I'm going to digress a little here. Rahul's mother Pushpa Dravid was an external invigilator for one of my subjects in my fourth year at Architecture school. The subject was "Rendering" or in other words, sketching ' with pencils, colour pencils and pens. Of all the numerous subjects we studied in my 5-year architecture course, the Rendering viva was by far the easiest.

I failed it thrice.

I barely cleared it only on my fourth attempt after I had managed to learn and present to Pushpa Dravid, the basics of Rendering. Though she knew that Rahul and I were from the same school and played tennis-ball cricket together sometimes, she wasn't going to do me any favours.

(It's worthwhile to mention that in 5 years of Architecture school, this was the only exam I hadn't cleared in my first attempt, despite topping my university in Design. I could do wicked sheets with pen, ink and instruments but still cant sketch free-hand.)

Getting back to the story ' while the world was surprised by Dravid's fight back for a place in the ODI team, I wasn't. This may sound incongruous ' but it isn't. In my opinion, Rahul is the least "naturally talented" cricketer I have watched. He is however, the most hardworking cricketer I have ever watched play cricket, studying the game, the bowlers he faces and his own playing style meticulously. The reason I believe he is so good at what he does, is because he's done the hard miles with his head down and his eyes focused.

There is a certain undeniable elegance about the man and his stroke-play. I once read somewhere ' "when Sachin scores a century, you jump up and pump your fist. When Dravid scores one, you sit back and let the good vibes and happy emotions wash over you in waves." So true.

Aspiring cricketers will do well to study the manner in which he has played the game and try and emulate his work ethic.

If you ask me to pick one of his innings which stands out ' I cant. Not because I don't remember them but because I've been carried over 17 years by the man's game ' his entire game. It's like a raver lost in music who can't identify the individual songs but is transported by the DJ's entire set.

As DJs, we attempt to build stories with our sets. We try to carry people with our music through a range of emotions ' through high points and low. That's what I feel about Rahul's cricketing career. He's played the most mind-blowing set lasting 17 years!

However, there is one moment in his career that I will always cherish. It isn't his Adelaide double century or even the epic partnership with Laxman at Eden Gardens. It's the 3 consecutive sixes he hit while playing his only 20-20 game for India last year. Watching that gave me as much joy as watching our team win the World Cup!!

Am I sad that Dravid's retiring? Yes I am. It genuinely breaks my heart to know that I will probably never again see him play the game on a test match field. His stroke-play ' especially his cover drives and the hook (with the ball played all along the ground) were nothing short of poetry in motion.

Has he done the right thing by retiring? That's a question only Rahul knows the answer to. Like the time he let go of the captaincy, he knows when to let go of this too. If he believes the time is now, then now indeed is the right time.

We'll miss you Rahul, but the manner in which you've played the game will remain in countless hearts across the world forever. As you retire today, I'd like to put your decision into perspective with a tweet I've borrowed a from the online comedy show @JayHind, "Bye Rahul Dravid. Well left."

Originally posted by: -x-Reshu-x-

where were you whole day rachu😔 i was looking for you everywhere😭

Originally posted by: spiritcrimson

I am actually crying. It's like the childhood memories all come back. It's been almost 8 years I've been watching him play. And to suddenly think he won't be playing anymore, it hurts so bad.

Originally posted by: spiritcrimson

I had my economics board exam. THIS is what I come home to? Really? I can't stop crying. 😭