@@@@@ Rahul Dravid deserves just as much credit as India's little master @@@@@

[Rahul Dravid]

[img]http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Sport/Pix/pictures/2011/7/27/1311785384957/Rahul-Dravid-007.jpg[/img]



There were 30 minutes to go to the lunch interval on Saturday when the India opener Abhinav Mukund, searching for a half-century, chopped a wide ball from Stuart Broad on to his stumps and walked from the field. Lord's was glorious that day, bathed in warm summer sun, and the crowd, a full house, was at its buzzing best. On such days a Test transforms itself from just a match into an occasion. Mukund disappeared into the pavilion and the hubbub brought on by an England success subsided. A white clad figure appeared, walking through the Long Room and down the pavilion steps that lead on to the field. The applause started and Sreesanth, carrying a drink out to the batsman established and waiting at the crease, looked suitably amused by the mistake.

But then came Sachin Tendulkar this diminutive person who, as the young India batsman Virat Kohli said in the immediate aftermath of the World Cup triumph, has carried the burden of the nation on his shoulders for two decades. He reached the outfield and, as he lifted his head and blinked at the sky, as invariably, ritualistically but almost certainly pragmatically he does, the applause renewed and thundered out as the entire ground, 28,000 spectators, rose to their feet and saluted the little genius, not relenting until he had reached the crease and begun to gather his thoughts.

Tendulkar has earned the respect and admiration of the cricketing world since his days of teenage precocity, not just for his supreme batsmanship but for the manner in which he has conducted himself in the face of such personal scrutiny in his homeland as can have faced no other sportsman anywhere. To be instantly recognised, and revered by a fanatical fervent cricketing nation, to find yourself virtually under house arrest at home so restricted do your movements have to be, invites intolerance on the part of the individual but in Tendulkar finds only understanding and acceptance of his lot. It would be easy to offer a line about batting not just for himself but for the hopes and dreams of a billion people, and not mean it, but with Tendulkar it is transparently obvious that he means it, every single run of the thousand upon thousand that have been cheered on if not at matches, then through television screens and radios.

Lord's means a lot to Tendulkar. He has a bolt hole near there in which to escape attention and takes his boy to nets at the indoor school on the Nursery. And yet somehow it has not been kind to him. Never has he gone beyond 37 and now, having played what will almost certainly be his last Test innings there, he never will, leaving him alongside Jacques Kallis, Ricky Ponting, Sunil Gavaskar, Brian Lara and Matthew Hayden as members of the top eight Test centurions without a place on the fabled honours board.

Not so Rahul Dravid. It was Dravid who was waiting at the crease to greet Tendulkar, and Dravid who was to go on to make a brilliant undefeated hundred that ensured his name at least would go up in gold lettering. Somehow, in all the Tendulkar hundredth international hundred hype, it seemed to have been forgotten that Dravid too has probably scored his century at the 11th hour – at 38, the oldest player to score one at Lord's in more than three decades – for he too is unlikely to bat here again in a Test match.

For a while on Saturday, while they added 77 together, there were more than 27,000 Test runs out there and 84 centuries, the two most prolific run scorers that Test cricket has seen batting together. When Dravid made his earlier entrance, however, the reception was muted: no tumultuous applause, no standing ovation. He is not the Little Master, no one seems to refer to him as a genius as they do Tendulkar or Lara or Ponting: he is the Wall, meant as a compliment on his steadfastness but slightly pejorative for all that, a soulmate for Kallis, another remarkable run scorer who shares with Dravid relative public disregard.

And yet Dravid, in his own way, has been every bit as important to Indian batting as has been Tendulkar. Some of the statistics that have been unearthed in the past week or so tell their story in a way that such figures often fail to do. Of Tendulkar's 51 centuries 11 have come in a losing cause. By contrast, before this last match Dravid's 128, made against Zimbabwe 13 years ago in Harare, was the only one of what is now 34 hundreds that has resulted in defeat for India. Dravid represents security.

Then again, while Tendulkar may have scored the most Test runs and centuries it is Dravid who has spent longest welded to the crease – more than 670 hours, or a full month of his life – and faced 29,438 deliveries – getting on for 5,000 overs – more than any one else. So at Trent Bridge, Edgbaston and The Oval, when Tendulkar continues to be sent on his valedictory Test match way, as almost certainly he will, it would be good if Dravid, too, was accorded the same reception. Goodness knows he has deserved it.

[chowdary9]

[img]http://i47.tinypic.com/vb0r9.gif[/img]

[Rahul Dravid]

[quote author=Hangover link=topic=228550.msg2821713#msg2821713 date=1314120275]
[img]http://i47.tinypic.com/vb0r9.gif[/img]
[/quote][img]http://i47.tinypic.com/vb0r9.gif[/img]

[Deletedid1]

@gr33d @gr33d *=: *=:

[pirra_gichhutha]

And even more  CITI_$D# CITI_$D# CITI_$D# CITI_$D#

"India can't afford to let Dravid retire at a time when he is at his peak and his team is struggling" -Nasser Hussain

In what is surely his last Test in England, Dravid left a final reminder of a career of unswerving commitment -David Hopps

It is a measure of his mental impregnability. He attributes his unparalleled concentration to letting his mind wander between balls, then taking two deep breaths just as the bowler turns at the end of his run. -Simon Hughes

bl@st bl@st bl@st bl@st bl@st bl@st bl@st bl@st bl@st bl@st bl@st bl@st bl@st bl@st bl@st bl@st bl@st bl@st

[Rahul Dravid]

He is a perfect role model for youngsters. He has set a great example for all of us to follow. We are all trying to follow that path. He is a solid batsman and one of the top players of the world who I really admire.

Not many people would know what he has undergone to get here, barring the people close to him - his pressures and how much effort it required.---  Sachin Tendulkar

bl@st bl@st bl@st bl@st bl@st bl@st

[pirra_gichhutha]

[quote author=Rahul Dravid link=topic=228550.msg2821770#msg2821770 date=1314120622]
He is a perfect role model for youngsters. He has set a great example for all of us to follow. We are all trying to follow that path. He is a solid batsman and one of the top players of the world who I really admire.

Not many people would know what he has undergone to get here, barring the people close to him - his pressures and how much effort it required.---  Sachin Tendulkar

bl@st bl@st bl@st bl@st bl@st bl@st
[/quote]

!#~ !#~ !#~ !#~ !#~ !#~ !#~ !#~ !#~ !#~ !#~ !#~ !#~ !#~ !#~ !#~

[perk]

*=:

[pirra_gichhutha]

[quote author=Rahul Dravid link=topic=228550.msg2821711#msg2821711 date=1314120247]
[img]http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Sport/Pix/pictures/2011/7/27/1311785384957/Rahul-Dravid-007.jpg[/img]



There were 30 minutes to go to the lunch interval on Saturday when the India opener Abhinav Mukund, searching for a half-century, chopped a wide ball from Stuart Broad on to his stumps and walked from the field. Lord's was glorious that day, bathed in warm summer sun, and the crowd, a full house, was at its buzzing best. On such days a Test transforms itself from just a match into an occasion. Mukund disappeared into the pavilion and the hubbub brought on by an England success subsided. A white clad figure appeared, walking through the Long Room and down the pavilion steps that lead on to the field. The applause started and Sreesanth, carrying a drink out to the batsman established and waiting at the crease, looked suitably amused by the mistake.

But then came Sachin Tendulkar this diminutive person who, as the young India batsman Virat Kohli said in the immediate aftermath of the World Cup triumph, has carried the burden of the nation on his shoulders for two decades. He reached the outfield and, as he lifted his head and blinked at the sky, as invariably, ritualistically but almost certainly pragmatically he does, the applause renewed and thundered out as the entire ground, 28,000 spectators, rose to their feet and saluted the little genius, not relenting until he had reached the crease and begun to gather his thoughts.

Tendulkar has earned the respect and admiration of the cricketing world since his days of teenage precocity, not just for his supreme batsmanship but for the manner in which he has conducted himself in the face of such personal scrutiny in his homeland as can have faced no other sportsman anywhere. To be instantly recognised, and revered by a fanatical fervent cricketing nation, to find yourself virtually under house arrest at home so restricted do your movements have to be, invites intolerance on the part of the individual but in Tendulkar finds only understanding and acceptance of his lot. It would be easy to offer a line about batting not just for himself but for the hopes and dreams of a billion people, and not mean it, but with Tendulkar it is transparently obvious that he means it, every single run of the thousand upon thousand that have been cheered on if not at matches, then through television screens and radios.

Lord's means a lot to Tendulkar. He has a bolt hole near there in which to escape attention and takes his boy to nets at the indoor school on the Nursery. And yet somehow it has not been kind to him. Never has he gone beyond 37 and now, having played what will almost certainly be his last Test innings there, he never will, leaving him alongside Jacques Kallis, Ricky Ponting, Sunil Gavaskar, Brian Lara and Matthew Hayden as members of the top eight Test centurions without a place on the fabled honours board.

Not so Rahul Dravid. It was Dravid who was waiting at the crease to greet Tendulkar,[color=red][size=12pt] and Dravid who was to go on to make a brilliant undefeated hundred that ensured his name at least would go up in gold lettering[/size][/color]. [color=red][size=12pt]Somehow, in all the Tendulkar hundredth international hundred hype, it seemed to have been forgotten that Dravid too has probably scored his century at the 11th hour – at 38, the oldest player to score one at Lord's in more than three decades [/size] [/color] – for he too is unlikely to bat here again in a Test match.

For a while on Saturday, while they added 77 together, there were more than 27,000 Test runs out there and 84 centuries, the two most prolific run scorers that Test cricket has seen batting together. [color=red][size=12pt]When Dravid made his earlier entrance, however, the reception was muted: no tumultuous applause, no standing ovation. He is not the Little Master, no one seems to refer to him as a genius as they do Tendulkar or Lara or Ponting: he is the Wall, meant as a compliment on his steadfastness but slightly pejorative for all that, a soulmate for Kallis, another remarkable run scorer who shares with Dravid relative public disregard.[/size][/color]

And yet Dravid, in his own way, has been every bit as important to Indian batting as has been Tendulkar. Some of the statistics that have been unearthed in the past week or so tell their story in a way that such figures often fail to do. Of Tendulkar's 51 centuries 11 have come in a losing cause. [color=red][size=12pt]By contrast, before this last match Dravid's 128, made against Zimbabwe 13 years ago in Harare, was the only one of what is now 34 hundreds that has resulted in defeat for India[/size][/color]. [color=red][size=14pt]Dravid represents security[/size][/color].

Then again, while Tendulkar may have scored the most Test runs and centuries it is Dravid who has spent longest welded to the crease – more than 670 hours, or a full month of his life – and faced 29,438 deliveries – getting on for 5,000 overs – more than any one else. So at Trent Bridge, Edgbaston and The Oval, when Tendulkar continues to be sent on his valedictory Test match way, as almost certainly he will, [color=red][size=12pt]it would be good if Dravid, too, was accorded the same reception. Goodness knows he has deserved it.[/size][/color][/quote]

&*B@ &*B@ &*B@ &*B@ &*B@ &*B@ &*B@ &*B@ &*B@ &*B@ &*B@ &*B@

CITI_$D# CITI_$D# CITI_$D# CITI_$D# CITI_$D# CITI_$D# CITI_$D# CITI_$D#

[pirra_gichhutha]

[quote author=Rahul Dravid link=topic=228550.msg2821711#msg2821711 date=1314120247]
[img]http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Sport/Pix/pictures/2011/7/27/1311785384957/Rahul-Dravid-007.jpg[/img]



There were 30 minutes to go to the lunch interval on Saturday when the India opener Abhinav Mukund, searching for a half-century, chopped a wide ball from Stuart Broad on to his stumps and walked from the field. Lord's was glorious that day, bathed in warm summer sun, and the crowd, a full house, was at its buzzing best. On such days a Test transforms itself from just a match into an occasion. Mukund disappeared into the pavilion and the hubbub brought on by an England success subsided. A white clad figure appeared, walking through the Long Room and down the pavilion steps that lead on to the field. The applause started and Sreesanth, carrying a drink out to the batsman established and waiting at the crease, looked suitably amused by the mistake.

But then came Sachin Tendulkar this diminutive person who, as the young India batsman Virat Kohli said in the immediate aftermath of the World Cup triumph, has carried the burden of the nation on his shoulders for two decades. He reached the outfield and, as he lifted his head and blinked at the sky, as invariably, ritualistically but almost certainly pragmatically he does, the applause renewed and thundered out as the entire ground, 28,000 spectators, rose to their feet and saluted the little genius, not relenting until he had reached the crease and begun to gather his thoughts.

Tendulkar has earned the respect and admiration of the cricketing world since his days of teenage precocity, not just for his supreme batsmanship but for the manner in which he has conducted himself in the face of such personal scrutiny in his homeland as can have faced no other sportsman anywhere. To be instantly recognised, and revered by a fanatical fervent cricketing nation, to find yourself virtually under house arrest at home so restricted do your movements have to be, invites intolerance on the part of the individual but in Tendulkar finds only understanding and acceptance of his lot. It would be easy to offer a line about batting not just for himself but for the hopes and dreams of a billion people, and not mean it, but with Tendulkar it is transparently obvious that he means it, every single run of the thousand upon thousand that have been cheered on if not at matches, then through television screens and radios.

Lord's means a lot to Tendulkar. He has a bolt hole near there in which to escape attention and takes his boy to nets at the indoor school on the Nursery. And yet somehow it has not been kind to him. Never has he gone beyond 37 and now, having played what will almost certainly be his last Test innings there, he never will, leaving him alongside Jacques Kallis, Ricky Ponting, Sunil Gavaskar, Brian Lara and Matthew Hayden as members of the top eight Test centurions without a place on the fabled honours board.

Not so Rahul Dravid. It was Dravid who was waiting at the crease to greet Tendulkar,[color=red][size=12pt] and Dravid who was to go on to make a brilliant undefeated hundred that ensured his name at least would go up in gold lettering[/size][/color]. [color=red][size=12pt]Somehow, in all the Tendulkar hundredth international hundred hype, it seemed to have been forgotten that Dravid too has probably scored his century at the 11th hour – at 38, the oldest player to score one at Lord's in more than three decades [/size] [/color] – for he too is unlikely to bat here again in a Test match.

For a while on Saturday, while they added 77 together, there were more than 27,000 Test runs out there and 84 centuries, the two most prolific run scorers that Test cricket has seen batting together. [color=red][size=12pt]When Dravid made his earlier entrance, however, the reception was muted: no tumultuous applause, no standing ovation. He is not the Little Master, no one seems to refer to him as a genius as they do Tendulkar or Lara or Ponting: he is the Wall, meant as a compliment on his steadfastness but slightly pejorative for all that, a soulmate for Kallis, another remarkable run scorer who shares with Dravid relative public disregard.[/size][/color]

And yet Dravid, in his own way, has been every bit as important to Indian batting as has been Tendulkar. Some of the statistics that have been unearthed in the past week or so tell their story in a way that such figures often fail to do. Of Tendulkar's 51 centuries 11 have come in a losing cause. [color=red][size=12pt]By contrast, before this last match Dravid's 128, made against Zimbabwe 13 years ago in Harare, was the only one of what is now 34 hundreds that has resulted in defeat for India[/size][/color]. [color=red][size=14pt]Dravid represents security[/size][/color].

Then again, while Tendulkar may have scored the most Test runs and centuries it is Dravid who has spent longest welded to the crease – more than 670 hours, or a full month of his life – and faced 29,438 deliveries – getting on for 5,000 overs – more than any one else. So at Trent Bridge, Edgbaston and The Oval, when Tendulkar continues to be sent on his valedictory Test match way, as almost certainly he will, [color=red][size=12pt]it would be good if Dravid, too, was accorded the same reception. Goodness knows he has deserved it.[/size][/color][/quote]

&*B@ &*B@ &*B@ &*B@ &*B@ &*B@ &*B@ &*B@ &*B@ &*B@ &*B@ &*B@

CITI_$D# CITI_$D# CITI_$D# CITI_$D# CITI_$D# CITI_$D# CITI_$D# CITI_$D#