I had penned my musings down on the night before Rahul Dravid formally announced his retirement from all forms of International cricket. For some reason or other, I had not posted them here. Here they are now.
RAHUL DRAVID - THE COMPLETE MAN
RAHUL DRAVID - THE COMPLETE MAN
Ever wonder how it has always
been the fruit and flowers who get all the attention, and not the roots of the
tree that quietly go about doing their job of being the life-support system of
it ? Who ever gives a thought to the steel and concrete that went into the foundation when one is busy marveling at the
towering elevation and the façade of a sky-scrapper? If only they could speak,
the tree and the sky-scrapper would be the first to thank their benefactors.
How often does it happen that a
great personality decides to call it a day and the news evokes emotions
bordering on grief that is normally associated with someone’s death ? Very
seldom indeed, because most of us relate
only to the public persona that had been on display for a reasonable length of
time, spanning a
spectacularly successful career, be it in the field of showbiz, sport, Art , Music, Politics or any
other field that inherently thrives on mass following. A day full of accolades
and thanks, and then the celebrity moves
on with his/her life just as the fans move on with theirs.
With Dravid’s retirement, though,
the emotions seem a touch more real than this customary and stereotypical reaction
when a hero walks out into the sunset. The eulogies are coming thick and fast from
the fans, the media, and the team-mates and opponents alike.
A great man hung up his boots
yesterday, and even the great Sachin Tendulkar had to admit he owed nothing
less than a third of his test hundreds to the partnerships he had with the man
at the other end. Take a bow Rahul Dravid.
A man as tough as nails when out
in the middle and as serenely calm and articulate as a sage when off
the field, Rahul Dravid’s place in history is as hard-earned and as
well-deserved as that of any of the greats of the game. Its only in a team
sport that the greatness of a player is measured not only in terms of his
individual skills , but also in terms of what he brings to the table as a
team-man. And this is where even the most ardent of Sachins fans would not
begrudge Rahul the highest rank
possible.
The celebration of his glorious career spanning over almost
two decades would be terribly lopsided if we addressed to only one of its two dimensions
, i.e. Rahul the batsman, and Rahul the person. While the Tendulkars, Gangulys
and Laxmans , and Sehwags enthralled the cricket-lovers with their sheer artistry,
and charisma , Rahul chose to quietly be the rock around which perhaps the
greatest era of Indian batting revolved. A technician par excellence, the man
all the strokes straight out of the coaching manual, and he could play them all
with great aplomb, but like a shrewd banker he always chose to invest them in long
term ventures even if it meant shutting out some tantalizingly lucrative short
term deals, and the beneficiary turned out to be the Indian team, always.
Never again will we see him
striding purposefully out in the middle for the rescue act that he had made all
his own.
Never again will the bowlers the
world over, run into the wall that had a grim, determined look in its eyes.
Never again will we see those
jaw-muscles clench in steely resolve, and that calmness which came from “ fire in belly and ice on mind”.
Never again will we hear that loud
and extremely masculine bellow of ‘NONONONO’ aimed at the non-striker.
Never again will those beautiful
hands pluck catches out of thin air in the slips and make it all look so
nonchalantly cool. He had once said he rued forever, every catch that he
dropped than every ton he missed.
Never again will the grounds the
world over be drenched in the sweat that poured in bucketfuls from his body,
for he always seemed to battle more than he batted.
Never again will the gentleman’s game be
played as it should be played. Because, with Rahul
Dravid’s batch of cricketers fading away from the scene, the current crop doesn’t
look too keen to put their stock in the sporting spirit either.
And never again will we feel that
hope we felt when the scoreboard read 11/3.
Rahul Dravid was the greatest
model the Raymonds commercial never had for "The Complete Man”
