Rahul Sharad Dravid was born on 11^th January 1973 in Indore.  He did his schooling at St. Joseph’s High School in Bangalore. He studied at St. Joseph’s College of Commerce in Bangalore. He started playing cricket at the age of twelve. He scored a century on debut for his school team. He was spotted by Keki Khurshedji Tarapore who coached him. Keki Tarapore had played one test for India in 1948 against the West Indies.

Rahul Dravid played domestic cricket for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy. He led them to the championship in 1996 by making a double century in the final against Tamil Nadu. He played county cricket for Kent and Scotland.

He made his test debut for India against England at Lord’s in London on 20^th June 1996. He made his one day debut against Sri Lanka at Singapore on 3^rd April 1996. Rahul Dravid has played 152 tests scoring 12,275 runs with 32 centuries and 60 fifties, taking 202 catches and one wicket that of Ridley Jacobs of West Indies in the 2002 test series. He has played 339 one day matches scoring 10,765 runs with 12 centuries and 82 fifties, taking 196 catches and four wickets. He has also got fourteen stumpings to his credit as a wicket keeper in one day matches. He has played 729 first class matches scoring 37,911 runs with 85 centuries and 225 fifties. He has played 66 T20 internationals scoring 1,530 runs. His highest test score is 270 against Pakistan and his highest one day score is 153 against New Zealand. His best one day bowling figures of 2/43 came against South Africa at Kochi in 2000.

Rahul Dravid is a right hand bat and a right arm off break bowler. He has kept wickets occasionally and also has captained India in many tests. He is a batsman in pure classical mould. He is the straightest bat to have played for India after Sunil Gavaskar. It is all to the credit of his Karnataka coach, Keki Tarapore. He is an elegant and technically correct stroke maker. He is a test enthusiast’s delight. His shots go very rarely through the air. He piles up runs at a moderate and easy pace. He belongs to a bygone era when batsmen rarely played in the air. He never compromised technique over flair. He has been nicknamed, `The Wall’, by the cricket media all over the world due to his straight and solid bat that he presents to a good ball in defense. He is also known as `Jammy’. He is one of those few batsmen who average more on overseas tours than at home. Even Tendulkar and Sehwag will take a backseat to him when it comes to sound technique, attitude and temperament.

Rahul Dravid was declared as Wisden’s Cricketer of the Year in 2000. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2004. He is one of the few Indian batsmen with a test batting average in the sixties. He is considered as one of the best thinkers in the game today. He has a good cricketing head and he is a calm and intense player. He is also one of the most handsome cricketers to have ever played the game. He has always saved the Indian team from bad phases by performing at his best. No one could ever forget his monumental partnership act with V.V.S. Laxman to turn a losing game against Australia on 11^th March 2001 when they put on 376 runs for the fifth wicket after following on in the innings at Kolkata and managed to win the game for India. Rahul Dravid also holds the record for the most number of innings played since debut by a player before making a zero score.

Article Posted By : tahnak  On July 07, 2011lView All Articles

Tahseen Nakavi Juror

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