As Rahul Dravid turns 49 today, there are some amazing stats, which I wanted to share about The Wall of team India. He has played 164 Tests and scored 13,288 at an astonishing average of 52.31, only second to Sachin Tendulkar and in 344 One Day Internationals (ODI) he has scored 10,889 runs. He also did wicketkeeping for India in many ODIs if and when required and always put his hand up for the team.
Here are the 10 instances, which makes one realise the importance of former Indian captain’s key contributions to Team India:
1. Rahul Dravid was at the other end when VVS Laxman scored the epic 281 against the Aussies in Kolkata with The Wall scoring 180.
2. Virendra Sehwag scored his first triple century (309) and Dravid stitched a partnership of 410 runs at Multan.
3. When Sehwag scored his second triple century, Rahul and Viru had a partnership of 268 runs.
4. When Sehwag scored 293 against Sri Lanka at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, Dravid had a partnership of 293 with the swashbuckling opener.
5. On his debut, Dravid scored 95 at Lord’s, the home of cricket, but his innings was eclipsed by another debutant Sourav Ganguly, who scored 131.
6. In the 1999 World Cup, when Dravid scored 145, Ganguly scored 183 and had a record 318-run partnership. The Walls was the highest run-getter in the 1999 World Cup, scoring 461 runs.
7. When he scored 153 against New Zealand, Sachin Tendulkar scored 186 in the same game.
8. When Dravid scored 280 against Pakistan, which was his highest score, Sehwag scored 309 in the same series.
9. India won a record 17 ODI while chasing, out of which Dravid was the captain for 15 games.
10. Dravid always played under the shadow of Tendulkar, Ganguly, Sehwag and Laxman but what mattered most was that he was always there, staying like The Wall, to rescue India.
Happy birthday to India’s current head coach and the unsung hero, Rahul Dravid.
