The Wall !!

The term Wall has been synonym to Rahul Dravid for more than a decade now. Still people talk about laxman's elegance, sehwag's flamboyance, sachin's strokeplay when dravid is batting with either of those. I know when Sachin will score his 100 it will a huge occasion for fans worldwide, including me. But is it fair to keep talking about Sachin even when Dravid is the one scoring hundreds right now and that too at critical junctures?

I have not become his fan recently after he scored two centuries. Have always admired his technique and commitment to his team. I thought its time to look back at his contribution to Indian Test team and briefly(till he gets his 100 ;)) forget about Sachin. Not to start a comparison war but I will try comparing him with Sachin at few occasions in this blog just to lay emphasis on Dravid's contribution to Indian cricket.

Dravid has by far been the most technically correct batsmen in Indian team for last 2 decades now..maybe more...maybe ever. Its amazing that for someone like Dravid, who has scored runs all around the world and is second only to Sachin in number of runs scored in Tests, there is not as much said and written about as about Lara, Ponting and Sachin.

Possible reasons could be:

1) He is not playing ODIs anymore and people see less of him, so have less to say about him.

2) He doesn't score his runs at the same rate as other 3 do, and hence is not someone whom people enjoy watching and writing about.

3) He happens to be playing in the same team as Sehwag, Laxman, Sachin.

4) He is unlucky that whenever he scores runs, someone else also does and at a much better strike rate.

Whatever the reason be, I think he isnt endowed with as much following, love and appreciation as even Dhoni. I have been a avid Sachin supporter. Have switched on the TV when he has come to bat and switched off so many times when he is out. But have I watched any match because Dravid is batting. Nope.

Its time to apologize to the wall for the same and thank him for Adelaide Oval, for Eden, for Lords, for TrentBridge, for Hamilton and many many more when he stood up, sometimes with a teammate and sometimes all alone.