Dravid: Not just another brick, but The Wall

Indian vice-captain Rahul Dravid might be the toast of the nationafter his scintillating double century against the Kiwis. But not long back ''TheWall'' used to walk in at number three with jeers accompanying him from thestands. The demanding Indian fans dazzled and spoilt by SachinTendulkar''s wizardry were not quite ready for the subtler magic flowing from theblade of Rahul Dravid. But over the years Dravid, fondly christenedJammy by Javagal Srinath, has not only been consistent but has an average thatis as handsome overseas as on home soil. A technically soundbatsman, Dravid has always been seen as a player made at the nets. And for sometime Dravid actually struggled to get the ball through gaps, hitting great copybook shots only to see them go straight to the fielders.In fact inthe one-dayers Dravid is still felt unfit for the task and some experts believethat he is hanging in there just because he can keep wickets and gives Gangulythe option of packing in an extra batsman.Dravid time and time againhas proved his detractors wrong, especially so in the Test arena. On the Moterawicket where the glamorous Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag could only make37 runs put together, Dravid in the season opener has come with the big one - adouble ton.The Ahmedabad Test till now has been just Dravid versusthe Kiwis. Stephen Fleming and his men have run against ''The Wall'' in spite ofgetting rid of Sehwag and Tendulkar cheaply. This is Dravid''s third double tonafter he got the first one against Zimbabwe in 2001 - an unbeaten 200 and then217 against England at The Oval in 2002.Dravid''s authoritativepresence was evident on day one when he bisected the region between cover andpoint with sweetly-timed boundaries. On the second day Fleming visibly flusteredby Dravid''s uncanny vigil in the middle tried to plug the point area only to seeDravid adjust and hit a couple of boundaries off Styris - one on the left of thepoint fielder and the other beating the cover fielder to hisright!Dravid, whose greatest influence in life has been his coachKeki Tarapore, burst on the scene in the away series in England in 1996, makinga well crafted 95 in his debut Test. In spite of a great innings,once again Dravid''s innings was dwarfed by Sourav Ganguly who also making hisTest debut scored 131. But in that 95 the world had seen enough of Dravid torealise that India had come out with a great battingprospect.Interestingly, while most Indian batsmen including thegreat Sachin Tendulkar have struggled in tests overseas, Dravid has been themost successful. In fact it was felt that Dravid was less of a force on homesoil than abroad.But that is a misnomer. Dravid has hit 9 centurieson foreign soil but has also smacked 6 back home. Dravid''s tons on foreign soil:148 (SA, 1997), 118 (Zimb,1999), 190(NZ,1999), 103(SL,1999), 107(Sl,1999), 144(WI,2002), 115 (Eng 2002), 148(Eng,2002), 217 (Eng, 2002). In hisown backyard Dravid has scored 6 tons: 144 (NZ,2000), 200*(Zimb, 2001),162(Zimb,2001), 180 (Aus,2001), 100* (WI, 2003), (NZ, 2003). Out of these themost memorable of course has been the commanding 180 he made and the 376 he puton with VVS Laxman which took India to an impossible victory against theAustralians at Eden Gardens in 2001.