Ritesh Misra, Mumbai, 11 November 2025
I have written that captains from three generations, Ajit Wadekar, Dilip Vengsarkar, and Rahul Dravid, have visited my childhood cricket club, Pragati Sporting. We have written about Ajit Ji and Dilip Ji; today, let us discuss the inspirational Rahul Dravid, popularly known as the Wall and Mr. Dependable.
Rahul made his test debut at Lord’s, and coming in at Number 7, he scored 95. It is indeed surprising why he came in so late, and the reason was that India preferred to send Nayan Mongia as opener, along with Vikram Rathour, and batting ahead of Dravid was fellow debutant Sourav Ganguly, along with Tendulkar, Azhar, and Ajay Jadeja. Sourav had a century on debut and top-scored with 131, and Dravid was the second-highest scorer with 95. However, while Sourav would be known as an inspirational captain, as a batter, Dravid would outshine him in his storied career.
Dravid amassed a huge 13,288 runs in his career, at an imposing average of 52.31. He had 36 tons and as many as 63 fifties. His highest score was 270 at Rawalpindi, in a famous win, with India winning by an innings. He was the first Test cricketer to have centuries in all 10 Test-playing nations. 15 of his tons came in winning efforts, 17 in drawn ones, and he also had 4 tons in losing causes.
Let us take a look at a few special Rahul Dravid knocks. Personally, though, our publisher, Sobhan and I love all 36 of them, as well as a few knocks which may not have ended in hundreds. Still, let me try the tough task of identifying a few of his best knocks.
I have already mentioned the 270. However, my favourite Dravid knock is the 180 at Eden Gardens when India followed on and he combined with VVS Laxman to conjure a 376 run stand for the 5th wicket and India ended up winning by 171 runs. My personal view is that this partnership changed the course of cricket history, as thereafter most teams preferred NOT to enforce the follow-on, bat a second time, and try to get the opposition out on a wearing 5th-day track.
Rahul has scored twin centuries in a test match twice, once against New Zealand and once against Pakistan. His 148 against England at Leeds and his 233 against Australia at Adelaide are amongst my personal favourites. On his debut, he missed a 100 at Lord’s by 5 runs, but he did have a ton there, with an unbeaten 103 in a losing effort in the 2011 series. In the same series, he had two more tons in losing efforts, a 117 at Nottingham, and an unbeaten 146 at the Oval. India ended up losing 0-4, but Rahul shone as a batter. He also showcased himself as a team man, since two of his three tons were as an opener.
Rahul also had 8 ODI tons in winning efforts, and 4 more in lost matches. He had almost 11,000 runs in ODIs and he had as many as 83 fifties in this format. Once again, as a team man, he doubled up as a wicket keeper, and this helped the team balance immensely. He is a giant in 1st class cricket with 68 hundreds and almost 24000 runs. He is a giant, not just as a player, but as a team man, and for the sincerity, dedication, and honesty he brings to his game and efforts.
We saw the same qualities in his coaching career as well. He opted for a stint as the head of NCA and as the coach of the U-19 Indian team. While with his credentials, he could have walked in as the main coach of the senior team, he preferred to be the coach of the U-19 team so that he would set up an assembly line of future players. However, he was ultimately persuaded to be the head coach, and he accepted the responsibility gracefully. Of course, Mr. Graceful is also one of his names!
During his tenure, the team performed creditably in all 3 formats of the game. In test matches, Team India reached the Finals of the WTC twice, in ODIs, it reached the Finals of the World Cup, and in T20s, Team India became the World Champions. In fact, that was a sweet farewell gift from the team to the country and their inspirational coach.
Rahul Dravid actually deserves a book and not a single article, so will sign off now by simply saying, for a test playing nation with Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar, he is still a terrific contender and for many, he is the best test batter India has given to the world of cricket.
You are one of our best icons ever. Thanks for all the memories!
