"And there was Rahul Dravid. Can’t think of anybody else to share this space with. For the past 16 years he has been playing, oh sry!! I beg my pardon; he has been living the game of cricket with its true values.
When I was a child I used to wonder how a person with such a cute looking face could face a demon like Shoaib Akhtar. But after the day he would happen to be the man who gives me a reason to go to my father and to say,” Look Papa he made it again.”
Oh! Here I remember an incident; In a press conference somebody asked RD that why can’t he play fast in ODIs, really not able to do that? Interrupting the cool reply of RD Harsha Bhogle sitting right of him said(paraphrasing), "Wait! This man will be selected in the squad for the coming world cup and will bat at no.3." As luck would have it, India didn't qualify for the semi-finals. However, Rahul Dravid was the highest scorer in the tournament. It doesn’t matter that how much runs he made, how many centuries he made, how many catches he dropped; what counts is that how he played! He never played with the cross bat and in the field or off the field he held the spirit of sports with true dignity.
His dedication towards the game was honest. He changed the grounds into temples & made the cricket religion in India. Rising from the base, he was really a hero for the worshippers of the cricket, but the shadow of the common man never left him. Crossing the milestone again & again and yet never made a lobby for himself in the media or in the cricket board.
Rahul Dravid is not the poet of the cricket like SRT. He is neither Prose writer like Vishwanath nor he is classical singer of cricket like Sunny Gavaskar. He is the grammar of cricket. He is that constitution of game of which everybody takes oath. Take a bow……..!!! "
