So the ClT-20 has finally ended and Mumbai Indians have emerged as the heroes. Rohit Sharma is having the time of his life with an IPL and CLT-20 wins in his pocket, as a ‘Captain’. Public is ushering love, respect and greetings for Sachin on his last ever IPL outing and rightly so. The man deserves a pompous farewell.
But hardly people noticed that apart from Sachin, another legend’s cricket is also ending i.e. Dravid’s. Dravid is one such man who has never been able to taste the limelight. Whenever his time comes, some other player snatches it with a few better runs or a few better number of trophies.
But this doesn’t at all discourage Dravid in giving his best to the one thing he worships. Dravid has always been on the giving/sacrificing front throughout his career. He was always open for challenges for the team to grow further. He has batted at almost every position, even at No.11 and has fielded at almost every spot. He has even kept wickets, even though his hands were not meant for the same. For this, he has garnered many negative reviews, but still he went out as a wicket-keeper for a decent period.
He has even performed stunningly well in T-20s, when people thought that he was a Test player. People always mistook his patient, rock-solid and firm way of playing as playing defensive. He just played smart and counter-attacking game. He was never too strong to hit those long sixes and never too fast to squeeze quick singles. He had flaws and he was aware of them, but he was always able to make the best of his talent. There were times when shots weren’t coming out of his hand as cleanly as always, but still he was able to stay at the crease for 300 odd balls and helped the team sail through the difficult times.
If Cricket is the Gentleman’s game, then Dravid is that Gentleman.
Determination, dedication, calmness, smartness, simplicity, selflessness, sacrificing nature; all this has made him the sole torch bearer of the spirit of the game. And still he got overshadowed. Whatever be the case, Dravid has emerged as one such personality for some people including me, who take him as their idol. Others might not see him as the God of Cricket, but for people like me who are drop-dead Dravidians, Rahul is not just a God of Criket but a God of all sorts. And his play will never end, he will never depart.
