Legendary Cricketer Rahul Dravid - More than an Inspiration for Youth

Rahul Dravid – The Man who was a Nightmare for Fast Bowlers

Rahul Dravid is an Indian cricketer and, is known as one of the greatest batsmen in the Cricket world. He got conferred with several awards for his brilliant performance. He also holds a record of never getting out on a Golden duck throughout his career. He has also spent the highest time on the crease in Test cricket and, his partnership with Tendulkar is still the highest-scoring in Test cricket.

Note: Dravid is also the fourth-highest run-scorer in Test cricket.

Rahul Dravid - Key Points

• Full Name - Rahul Sharad Dravid
• Date of Birth - 11 January 1973 (48 years)
• Place of Birth - Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
• Nickname - The Wall, Mr. Dependable, Jammy, The Great Wall
• Role - Batsman, Wicket-keeper
• Batting - Right-handed
• Bowling - Right-arm off-break
• No. of Tests played - 164
• No. of ODIs played - 344
• Height - 5 ft. 10 in
• Weight - 70 kg
• Website - www.rahuldravid.com

Rahul Dravid - Early Life

Rahul was born in Indore in a Marathi Brahmin family to Pushpa and Shard Dravid. His mother was a professor at University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, Bangalore and, his father worked for a jam-making company.

He completed his primary education at St. Joseph's Boys High School and graduated commerce from St. Joseph's College of Commerce. He played cricket alongside his studies and got selected for the National team while working.

Rahul Dravid - Family and Personal Life

Rahul got married to Vijeta Pendharkar in 2003. She is a surgeon from Nagpur and belongs to a Deshastha Brahmin. The couple has two children Samit and Anvay, born in 2005 and 2009. He also has a younger brother, Vijay.

Fun Fact: - Rahul is only the fifth Indian cricketer to be on the ICC Hall of Fame. Let's get to know the story of this super cool batsman.

Rahul Dravid – Career

• Early Career Rahul got selected in the Indian team in 1994 for the Wills World Series. Unfortunately, he didn't get to play a single match. Dravid made his debut in 1996 against Sri Lanka. His ODI was not a great one as he ended up scoring just three runs before getting out on the ball of Muthaiya Muralidharan. However, his test debut was successful. He played his first test against England and scored 95 runs.
• ODI Career Dravid played 344 ODI matches and scored almost 11,000 runs with a batting average of 39.16. He won his first Player of the Match award against Pakistan in the 1996 Friendship Cup. He often got criticized for not improving his game for the ODI format. But he slowly adapted himself for this format and played some beautiful innings for its team.
• Test Career Dravid became one of the most preferred players for Test Cricket. He has played 164 tests and scores more than 13,000 runs with a batting average of 52.31. He won his first Player of the Match award against South Africa in 1997. Dravid has played a significant role in Test cricket and has led the team to victory several times.

Rahul Dravid - Captaincy

Dravid got to captain the Indian cricket team when Ganguly got injured. Under his captaincy, the Indian team won the test match in Pakistan for the first time. He scored 270 runs in the third test and, that turned out to be his career-best performance. He also won the Player of the Match award for his outstanding performance. He is also known for his captaincy skill and tough decisions.

Fun Fact: Dravid became the captain of the team in the 2007 World Cup.

Rahul Dravid - IPL

Dravid played for RCB (Royal Challengers Bangalore) in 2008, 2009, and 2010. He also played for Rajasthan Royals in the Champions League T20 and Indian Premier League. Rahul led the team to finals and play-offs of the respective tournaments. His career in IPL was a small one as he took his retirement.

Rahul Dravid - Coach Career

Dravid was the head coach of India A and India U-19 from 2016-2019. Under his mentorship, the U-19 team won the World Cup in 2018. He also got appointed as Head of NCA by BCCI in 2019. Rahul still monitors the performance and progress of India U-19 and India A teams.

He recently coached the India B team in their Sri Lanka tour in 2021 for ODI and T20I.

Rahul Dravid - Retirement

Dravid took retirement after playing his last ODI against England in 2011. He announced his retirement from Test Cricket in 2012 after the Australia tour.

He retired from T20I in 2013 after playing the Champions League T20.

Rahul Dravid - Awards and Achievements

Rahul has won more than 50 awards on the national and international award. Some of the awards and achievements of Rahul are as follows:

• Arjuna Award - By the Government of India, 1998
• Padma Shri - By the Government of India, 2004
• Padma Bhushan - By The Government of India, 2013
• International Cricketer of the World Cup - By CEAT, 1999
• Wisden Cricketer of the Year - By Wisden, 2000
• ICC Cricketer of the Year - By ICC, 2004
• ICC Test Player of the Year - 2004
• MTV Youth Icon of the Year - By MTV, 2004
• NDTV's Indian of the Year - By NDTV (Lifetime Achievement Award), 2011
• Don Bradman Award - 2012
• Wisden India Highest Impact Test Batsman - 2015
• ICC Hall of Fame - 2018
• GQ Men of the Year - By GQ, 2012

Rahul Dravid - Biographies

Some of the biographies on Dravid are as follows:

• Rahul Dravid - A Biography (written by Vedam Jaishankar)
• The Nice Guy Who Finished First - Written by Devendra Prabhudesai
• Rahul Dravid: Timeless Steel - Released by ESPN cric info

Rahul Dravid - Fans and Following

Rahul Dravid is not on any social media platform. But people can find his fan pages on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc. These fan pages have lakhs of followers and, they will keep you updated.

Rahul Dravid - Brand Endorsements

Rahul Dravid's popularity is unmatchable in India. A lot of brands want to collaborate with him due to his popularity and huge media presence. Some of the brands endorsed by him are as follows:

• Reebok
• Pepsi
• Cred
• Samsung
• Castrol
• Gillette
• Sansui
• Bank of Baroda
• Max Life
• Citizen

Rahul Dravid - The Wall of the Indian Cricket Team

Rahul Dravid is undoubtedly one of the finest cricketers that we had. This man holds several records in his name and, his contribution to Test cricket is unforgettable. He is an inspiration for all the aspiring cricketers in the world. His journey is full of motivation and, we all can learn something from it.