Rahul Dravid..My Hero..My Inspiration

RAHUL DRAVID

I was about to step out of the school that day, someone just held my shoulders and dragged me back..It was my friend.He asked me "Whats the score man??".I replied "Dude even I came out with you how can I know the score.." .The person who was standing nearby heard our conversation and called us.
We went to him.He asked us "Are you guys so much interested in cricket".We replied "Yes", with such conviction that he would have thought this guys would surely play for India one fine day.Then, I remember him telling that Laxman and Dravid were still batting and total score was around 490. Laxman had completed his double and Dravid had completed his century.Next moment I ran towards the home to catch some live action.If anyone would have calculated the speed of me, it would be second best to Usain Bolt's Record, May be.

That day I realized how much important this Guy "Dravid" is for Indian team, even though he was playing second fiddle to a great innings of all time for India.It was the beginning of something special to come in Years.And,A New Hero and Inspiration was born for me.

When I look back at the era where Saurav took over as a captain and Indians were not a mere Tourists anymore.We went there to be Competitive and we were .A series drawn in England in 2002 and drawn series in Australia in 2004 and winning historic series in Pakistan.This meant that Saurav was the Best Captain India has ever had for the only reason, He taught us to fight.His cause was helped by his Vice Captain at that time Mr. Dravid ,with three consecutive hundreds against England and great double century in Adelaide ,finishing the series as highest run scorer and a epic knock of 270 in Rawalpindi made sure that India were ahead than their Rivals.

He was certainly my Hero and Inspiration by that time, not only for his Cricketing Skills and expertise copy book cricket Style, but  his sheer Persona which captured my heart.The way he handled himself under the circumstances when it was not going for him.An incident which speaks, When India toured Australia in 2008, which was struck by Monkey gate controversy. Rahul was out of form in that series and he was struggling  and in one of the test match, he was stuck on the same score for more than 50 balls and Australian crowd started booing at him.After 2 balls he got a chance to run a single.When he reached the other end of 22 and a half yards crowd started booing once again.He showed the world what he was made of ,  by just lifting his bat and with a smile on his face.

THE WALL

Navjot Singh Sidhu once said "Rahul Dravid is a Player who would walk on broken glass if his team asks him to".With him around, India were never forced to take an extra Wicket Keeper and an Opening batsmen.He was always there.He was ready with his keeping gloves whenever his captain wanted him to.He was ready padded up whenever opener got injured facing all those swinging deliveries .It's not that he was there doing the job, but the conviction with which he was doing was the most surprising thing.

Finally,It can't be just a Coincidence that Respect,Resilience,Role Model and Rahul  Dravid start with "R".
Thanks Sir for being my Inspiration and many more fans like me out there
#RESPECT Mr.DRAVID
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Gururaj M J
Fan Unlimited