Sep 17, 2011
“The Wall That Always Stood Tall” – A tribute to Rahul Dravid...!!!
It was one of those days that have become all too common on this tour
— intriguing, confounding, depressing all rolled in one. Before play
began on the second morning of the friendly match against Northants came
the news that Rahul Dravid had been reinstated in the one-day squad
which play England after the Test.
Why would a World Cup-winning team
want to turn the clock back almost two years was the buzz in the
morning. It goes without saying that Dravid’s inclusion is not bereft of
good reason. On this tour yet, Dravid has looked the most secure
batsman in the team. English conditions are also unlikely to allow flat
track strikers to thrive, and a player who can hold the innings together
is vital and who better than Dravid for that job. Today at Cardiff,
Rahul Dravid will play his last one day international; one last time in
blue jersey.
A man who first stepped into international cricket when unorthodoxy
was at its peak with pinch-hitters scoring runs defying the standard
shots of cricket; Dravid has been truly head and shoulders above
everyone when it comes to technique and style.
Every time India has been
staring down the barrel, Dravid has stood out like a lotus in the muck
or a solitaire among the brick bats. Undoubtedly, Dravid has been one of
the main pillars of the Indian batting line up with his blend of right
technique and stylish shots. April 3, 1996, India was up against Sri
Lanka in Singapore and it was the second match of the ‘Singer cup’. With
the opposition in driver’s seat and the scoreboard reading 58/2, Dravid
made his way out to the middle with a willow in hand to try and
manoeuvre the team’s ship out of choppy waters which years later was
going to be bread and butter stuff for him.
His debut innings wasn’t
anything of note, falling to Muralitharan for a single digit score and
it’s fair to say his first couple of years in ODI’s weren’t anything to
write about. It was only after that epic partnership with Sourav Ganguly
in the world cup match against Sri Lanka at Taunton that he made his
mark in ODI arena.
Initially seen as a liability in the one-day arena, he retooled his
game over the years to become an adept middle-order finisher. Yes, the
swashbuckling strokes which are so synonymous with the shorter version
of the game didn’t come to him naturally but he certainly had all the
makings of a solid middle order batsman who could hold the innings
together with utter ease. For a player whose affluent essay came out of
perfection, temperament and technique, Rahul Dravid has been India’s
go-to man in pressure situations and till date he has served the team’s
cause with whole hearted devotion. He has been undoubtedly the best that
India has ever produced–in terms of technique, skills, grit and above
all dependability. The skills are as solid as they were 15 years ago,
the style seems to have got better and better with each passing year but
one thing never seems to change and that is his grit and
concentration–Those have been rock solid as ever.
In
a nation like ours which is so obsessed with the game of cricket, where
cricketers are demi-gods and everyday a new controversy pops up,
Dravid’s sheer down to earth nature and humble attitude has helped him
stay away from controversies in-spite of so much media scrutiny. Rahul
Dravid started off as a shaky batsman with an apt technique, then came a
phase wherein he became the sheet anchor and others played around him
scoring runs freely and now with the advent of t20, Dravid seems to have
moulded himself into a new avatar–a player who now keeps pace with the
innings, who not only smacks the bowlers out of the park (pretty unlike
the real Dravid) but also possesses an attitude that would make him
reach the skies. Dravid’s greatness however is not limited to the number
of runs he scores on the field. We certainly need to let that number
roll off our tongues a bit more often because it is a colossal figure.
His greatness is a potpourri of character, hard work and a genuinely
good heart. Talent and character join hands to make consummate
greatness-Dravid is a glittering example of that. A deeper scrutiny of
his character shows his commitment towards Indian cricket–A selfless
soul who always has been a team-man and whose personal records have been
overshadowed by team heroics.
When Dravid retires today, the country will lose the greatest no 3
batsman it ever had, fans will be robbed of the privilege of watching
this artist at work, media will mourn that he never got his due but most
importantly, his departure will take away with itself a bit of
gentle-manliness that the game tries to still portray as its inseparable
element. He is a legend no matter what critics say–He has been the man
responsible for taking India to new heights of success. Pressure can
make a batsman crumble or can make him doughty and more confident.
Dravid has time and again shown us that he enjoys such challenges.
Demanding situations have seen him rise to the occasion and perform even
better. He is known as the WALL for reasons which are pretty much
self-evident.
So for one last time, let us enjoy seeing those toes which rise
sweetly in sync with the pace of the approaching ball, standing tall and
majestic and in control before disdainfully whacking the ball through
the backward point. Let us enjoy how he bats and bats and bats and saves
the team from a moment of crisis. Let’s get awed by his mastery over
something we will always run away from–STRUGGLE. He indeed is a
true-blue hero.
Hats off Dravid!!
Sourav Ganguly On Dravid`s Retirement :
Rahul has had a chequered one-day career and it took a new turn once he decided to keep wicket in 2002. His decision was absolutely for the team as it helped reorganise the middle-order and add more depth to it. Indian cricket should be thankful to Rahul for that. The difference in his game before and after he kept wicket can be easily made out, though one doesn’t need to judge Rahul by the records as he has been a great soldier of Indian cricket.
Rahul Dravid's ODI career highlights...!!!
The
38-year-old player has not only been involved in some memorable
victories in Test cricket but has also given India moments to cherish in
ODI cricket. And despite being left in the wings by selectors on
numerous occasions, the commitment Dravid has shown whenever called up
for the national duty has been exemplary.
Here we look back at some of those moments of Dravid's career which
make us to bewilder in awe about the peak the Karnataka batsman reached
in his 15-year-long career.
The Highs
1999 World Cup: With 461 runs, he finished as the leading run-scorer, including a knock of 145 against Sri Lanka at Taunton.
Standing the test of time:
His career-best of 153 in ODIs came in a world record 331-run stand
(for any wicket) with Sachin Tendulkar against New Zealand at Hyderabad
in 1999. Incidentally, this epic partnership broke his record 318-run
stand with Sourav Ganguly against Sri Lanka in the 1999 World Cup.
The big chase:
During the fourth ODI against West Indies at Ahmedabad in 2002, his
knock of 109 helped India to the third highest run-chase in ODI history
(at the time) of 325.
2003 World Cup: Doubling up as a
wicketkeeper and batsman, he was part of the side that won eight games
in succession to power into the final. Dravid top-scored in the crucial
win against England, and struck unbeaten knocks to guide India home
against Pakistan and New Zealand. He finished with 318 runs, 15 wickets
and a stumping.
History-making: During the historic tour
of Pakistan in 2003-04, Dravid was instrumental in India winning maiden
Test and ODI rubbers on Pakistan soil. He top-scored in the five ODIs
with 248 runs.
Golden run: During his captaincy stint,
India broke the 14-match West Indies record for most consecutive
successful run-chases in ODIs. For this 17-match run, Dravid was the
captain for 15 games while Sourav Ganguly was captain for the other two.
10,000 ODI runs: In Feb 2007, he joined the club during the Goa ODI against Sri Lanka.
The Lows
Axed:
Having scored just two fifties in 11 outings, Dravid struggled to find a
place in the XI in October 1998. However, he became a permanent fixture
in the side two months later.
Racially abused: His quick
fire 84 in Johannesburg almost took India to victory in the final of the
tri-series in February 1997. When he struck a six through the on side,
Allan Donald, who racially abused him, mentioned this incident in his
autobiography. Even Dravid lost his temper and refused to accept
Donald's apology after the match.
Ball-tampering: In
January 2004, he was found guilty of ball-tampering during an ODI
against Zimbabwe at Brisbane. TV cameras caught him rubbing a cough
lozenge on the shiny side of the ball. The incident was reported to
match referee Clive Lloyd, and he was fined 50 per cent of his match
fee. Later, India coach John Wright defended Dravid, stating that "It
was an innocent mistake".
2007 World Cup: Dravid was captain of the Indian team during the Caribbean debacle.
Not young enough:
Despite playing a few match- winning knocks in the ODI series in
England (2007), the selectors were ready to invest in the youth.
Dravid
was axed from the ODI squad after few failures against Australia in
September 2007. He wasn't picked again until August 2009.
Return short-lived:
His return in 2009 lasted two months. Dravid was primarily picked to
help the young Indian team tackle the bounce in South Africa (Champions
Trophy 2009). Two months later, he was dropped, yet again.
Calling it quits:
Having got a surprise call from selectors for the England ODIs in 2011,
Dravid announced that this series will be his last in this form of the
game.
Hot Neha Bhasin grabs Tollywood’s attention...!!!
In the glittering audio function of Young Tiger NTR’s Oosaravelli,
one lady was able to stay in the public imagination despite the
presence of stars like NTR and Tamanna. She is the hot and talented Neha
Bhasin. She performed on stage for the song ‘Niharika Niharika’.
Neha
wowed the crowd with an impressive and very sensual dance and one could
see that all the directors and producers were watching her performance
keenly. The song ‘Niharika Niharika’ is turning out to be very popular
from the Oosaravelli soundtrack.
This is not Neha Bhasin’s first
stint in telugu. She lent her voice to the songs “Hello Hello” from Naga
Chaitanya’s Dhada and “Atu Nuvve itu Nuvve” from Sushant’s Current. All
of them are Devi Sri albums incidentally.
Let us see if this talented lady strikes it big in Telugu this time.
Gallery::
The true colors of Tollywood’s heroines...!!!
We are of course talking about our heroines from Chennai,
Goa, Punjab and Mumbai, or for that matter from any other part of the
Country other than Andhra. The fact is not even a single one of them is a
member of the industry’s Movie Artistes Association (MAA). The
membership costs a paltry (by their standard) Rs. 1 lac. None of them –
Trisha, Genelia, Anushka, Tamannah, Taapsee, Nithya Menon, Samantha,
Kajal – have bothered to enrol in the Industry’s premier body.
In
direct contrast almost all of them have become members of Kollywood’s
Nadigar Sangam. The membership is not a simple nominal issue. It has
commercial implications for the producers too. Those producers that sign
up the above mentioned heroines, cannot approach MAA to take any action
on them in case they have disputes regarding remuneration, shooting
schedules etc. This is the concern that MAA in turn has communicated to
the producers and has told them in no uncertain terms that they have to
take note of this issue while signing up these actresses for their
movies.
Some of them though have responded. Actress like Trisha
and Genelia who have even won Nandi awards are saying that they will
soon complete the enrolment formalities.
First look of 'Power'star's movie to be out on Dussera...!!!
First
Look and title of Powerstar's current film will be announced on Dussera
festival. The movie, being directed by Tamil director Vishnuvardhan,
has come to an end. Currently a song is being shot on Pawan Kalyan and
new actress Sarah Jane Dais at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad.
"All the titles - Shadow, Tilak, Kali - that came out in the media are not true. We will announce the title and first look on Dussera festival. Except two songs, we are done with movie's shoot and planning to release the movie this December," producers Neelima and Shobhu announced.
Yuvan Shankar Raja is composing the film's music.
"All the titles - Shadow, Tilak, Kali - that came out in the media are not true. We will announce the title and first look on Dussera festival. Except two songs, we are done with movie's shoot and planning to release the movie this December," producers Neelima and Shobhu announced.
Yuvan Shankar Raja is composing the film's music.
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