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Rahul Dravid’s steely resolve to stay till the end ensured there was no repeat of Rajkot fiasco and once again underscored the value of his innings in a winning cause. The eternal bridesmaid in India’s ODI scheme of things, Dravid’s contributions always used to get buried under the hype and hoopla of the Tendulkars, Gangulys, Sehwags and Yuvrajs of the glitzy pack. Yet, ‘the wall’ remained unfazed and just stuck to his intrinsic smarts without ever trying to match the bravado of his big hitting peers. That he conquered the 10,000 runs summit today is a testimony to his guts and gumption that have fashioned wins when India needed them most – like the one today which helped India stay in the hunt for the series victory and more importantly preserve some self belief prior to the big event next month.
At 94 for 4, with Dravid and Dhoni new to the crease, it was a match on with SL camp conjuring visions of re-enacting their famous ‘Premadasa stadium script’- choking the chase on a slowing track. Dravid would have none of that today and he truly walked the talk of batting till the end, like he has done on numerous occasions whilst chasing, and got ample support from Dhoni on their workmanlike hundred plus partnership that sealed the match.
Generally very robotic and very diplomatic is Dravid during the post match ceremony – but this time around, to me, it was a huge revelation of Dravid’s finesse in articulating his laser sharp assessment of himself and his teammates – first, he lauded Zaheer Khan’s incisive spell and Dhoni’s maturity to adapt to different situations and then had no hesitation whatsoever to state that it was ‘his’ innings along with Dhoni’s that set up the win for India. He underplayed his 10,000 run milestone but made it abundantly clear that he is proud of his success playing in different positions for his team – not just tonking the hard ball over the top in the first 20 overs - and also kept wickets when the team needed.
The quintessential team man chose the right occasion and the right timing to amplify the key attributes required for this WC campaign –focus on staying and finishing the game, not on statistically heartwarming half centuries and centuries - there certainly was a message or two for the other two members of India’s 10,000 club.
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More Views by NT Shiv Kumar
