Rahul Dravid: he deserves a mention
By Roving Eye
We required a world record to beat India," said Pakistan stand-in skipper Rameez Raja, talking about Saeed Anwar's masterful 194 against India, in
the presentation ceremony of that match. Everybody knows the story.
Pakistan beat India by 35 runs. Man of the match: Saeed Anwar. Said Indian
captain, Sachin Tendulkar, "We bowled really badly." That match may have
brought about the genius in Saeed Anwar. But it also brought about Rahul
Dravid's maiden ODI century, which most people seemed to forget.
Rahul Dravid, since his debut last year, has been India's most consistant player. His ODI scores since his debut in the Singer Cup in 1996 read as follows: 3, 4, 3, 11, 7*, 13, 39, 90, 46, 25, 20, 62, 6, 0, 21, 56, 31, 8, 23, 50, 53, 12, 17, 33, 84, 74, 30, 21*, 61 and 107.
Having a rather shaky start in One-Day Internationals he has fought back with determination and has now become the most reliable player in the side. Having an even better test record since his debut at Lords last year with scores of 95, 84, 24, 34, 31, 23, 7, 56, 7, 27*, 2, 12, 148, 81, 43, 51*, 57, 78, 2, 37* and 92 his place in the Indian team seems to be fixed for a long, long time.
With stylish strokes, sound technique and good footwork, Dravid has the tendency to score a 50 almost every other innings. Many a time, his innings has saved the team from disgrace and his consistancy is a bonus for the team. The Indian team seems to have taken this wonderful player for granted and even his rare absence from the team is felt.
Currently a key player for India, Rahul Dravid has a long long way to go and hopefully the future hold good for him.
