A GENTLEMAN OF PURE CLASS

Cricket is often called The Gentlemens Game and who better can personify a gentleman cricketer than Rahul Dravid.Dravid was arguably one of the greatest batsmen ever to have played cricket.He may not have had the brutality of Gayle or viciousness of Sehwag, but what he had was prodigious mental strength coupled with meticulous batting skills that could wear down any opposition.Adversity brings out the best of a person they say,well it certainly did in Dravids case.Whenever the Indians found themselves in a spot of bother,Dravid more often than not pulled off something special to get them out of trouble. Rahul was part of an Indian middle order that consisted of some seriously good batsmen like Sourav,Sachin and VVS.Inspite of this,Dravid was definitely the core around which the Indian innings revolved.Whenever the pitch had a greenish tinge to it or had some demons,the onus was on Dravid to play the sheet anchor role and he relished this challenge,thriving in the most difficult of conditions.Dravid had the ability to pick length early and to read the ball off the bowlers hand which are the attributes of a champion batsman.His footwork was immaculate and his defence was top notch. You may not witness the glamorous switch hit or the fascinating helicopter shot from the great man but he plays textbook cricket shots with sheer class and leaves you to wonder whether you are watching a cricketer or an artist at work.How many times have we seen him play the classy cover drive,the elegant glance off his legs or his trademark square cut with surgical precision.Rahul Dravid was also a great exponent of the pull and the hook shots,an inevitable part of a batsmans arsenal to tackle short-pitched bowling.Swing bowling,seam movement,chin music and foreign conditions have tormented the Indian batsmen for ages but Rahul had these basics covered.He displayed excellent batsmanship with hours and hours of lucid concentration. Ofcourse,who would forget the epic 223 that he scored against the aussies in the famous Adelaide Test.He along with VVS scripted some glorious victories for India.The Eden Gardens test and the Adelaide test are sublime examples of the adeptness of the duo.Dravids contribution as a slip fielder has been monumental.He holds the record for most number of catches in test cricket (210 catches) Gentlemanliness is a special trait of rahul Dravid.Whenever he reached a hundred or any other milestone,he just raised his bat to the crowd to symbolize

genuine acknowledgement,unlike some batsmen who get carried away by the limelight.The way he conducted himself in and off the field deserves special mention.He was always calm and composed.But this did not stop him from playing tough cricket in his own way,well within the spirit of the game.He let his bat do all the talking when was at the crease.Rahul dravid possessed talent,technique and temperament of the highest order that placed him amongst the best in business.But somehow the man has not got enough credits for his achiements and was overshadowed by Sachin on most of the occasions.Dravids contribution to Indian cricket is humongous and with him gone now,the vacuum that has been created in the Indian Middle order is colossal. In this era of T20 cricket,where the batsmen fancy slogs than orthodox cricket shots,Rahul Dravid will be missed big time from the purists point of view.We will no longer be able to see The Wall in action but the reminiscences of him playing the gorgeous drives,his artistic batting and ounces of sweat dripping off his helmet will linger in our hearts for ages to come.