Rahul Dravid - The Ultimate Star of Indian cricket !

Born on 11 January 1973 in Indore, Rahul Dravid played cricket for India for nearly 16 years and is one of the greatest that India has ever produced. He is best known in the world for his style and approach of playing the game.

Rahul Dravid made his debut for the Indian team in 1996. His first match was against England at Lords. It was also Sourav Ganguly's first match. It was a dream debut for both the cricketers, Sourav Ganguly eventually going on to score a century and Rahul Dravid missed it by four runs. He was gone on 96.

For sixteen years, Rahul Dravid has been an integral part of the Indian team both in tests and one dayers. Rahul Dravid wasn't an aggressive player like a Tendulkar or a Ganguly, however, his passion, temperament, technique and dedication towards the game helped him to mature as a player and win many matches for India. His defensive approach of playing the game and his temperament especially in Test match cricket has inspired many young talents over the years. 2002-2004 were his best years when he piled on runs and scored hundreds against England in England, Australia in Australia and Pakistan in Pakistan. He was hereby felicitated by the ICC as ICC player of the year 2004.

Sachin Tendulkar is considered as the God of cricket. But in my opinion, I admire Rahul Dravid more than Sachin in many ways because Rahul has not just won matches for India but has come to India's rescue in many tough situations. In difficult times, his match saving efforts have helped Team India save a lot of games. The reason why i consider him as the Ultimate Star of cricket or the Unsung Hero !

There is a quote very appropriate for a player of Rahul Dravid's caliber : -

      " When the going gets tough, the tough gets going "

Rahul Dravid has always lived up to the expectations of the team. He has always been a self-less cricketer. In short a team man. He did whatever the team required him to do. If the team wanted him to keep wickets, he did it. If the team wanted him to open the innings, he went out and opened the innings. This trait of Rahul Dravid makes him unique. Not many in the cricketing world are like him. Reason why I feel that he will be missed in the Indian Team and as to why i will miss him whenever I watch India play.

But Rahul Dravid does play for the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. In 2012, he was their captain and he did have decent season with the bat. I just hope and pray that Rahul Dravid plays one more season of IPL scoring like he has always done and leads Rajasthan to a successful campaign !