The World Cup, world No 1 Test ranking, away series wins and draws, highest Test run-getter, highest century maker… most conceivable peaks belong to India.
Indian cricket has been witness to three types of growth in the recent times — fast, very fast and very, very fast. The World Cup, world No 1 Test ranking, away series wins and draws, highest Test run-getter, highest century maker… most conceivable peaks belong to India.
On Saturday, there was an addition. The two highest Test run-scorers are now Indians. Rahul Dravid overtook Ricky Ponting’s Test aggregate of 12,363 runs on his way to a hundred, his 33rd in Test cricket, at the Lord’s Cricket Ground. Only Sachin Tendulkar, whom they call God, is ahead of The Wall. The cricketing geology has been getting an Oriental shift.
The presence of Tendulkar and Dravid at the top of the charts is a unique feat. The last time the top-two Test run-getters from the same team appeared in a match together was in 1912 in Sydney when Aussies Clem Hill (3,412) and Victor Trumper (3,163) appeared in that match. (Interestingly, fellow Aussies Warwick Armstrong (2,247) and Syd Gregory (2,210), who also played in the same match, occupied the third and fourth positions in the all-time list of leading run-getters in Tests at that point of time).
Dravid and Tendulkar, in pursuit of his 100th international century, were involved in a 81-run partnership on Saturday but the two ‘best’ batsmen could not be seen together in the middle as Tendulkar got out before Dravid could overtake Ponting. Dravid needed 49 runs before this innings to go past the former Australia skipper.
In an innings of monkish concentration, Dravid held the Indian innings together after seeing wickets fall at the other end. Coming from a none-too-impressive series against the West Indies, preceded by poor outings against South Africa, Dravid was under the microscope about his ability to last at the highest level. He chose the best possible occasion — 2,000th Test — and the best possible platform — the home of cricket — to put to rest the doubts over his reflexes, alacrity and ability to build innings. Pacers or spinners, he put forward the best foot and slowed down England’s accession in the Test.
What sets Dravid apart is his eternal exploration to reach
new grounds. Even hours and hours at nets won’t satiate his quest for improvement. He was seen spending time at the nets in the morning, just less than hour before he had to start the day’s play.
There was speculation before the series, that he might announce retirement from the game after the series, just like he had announced retirement from captaincy after the last England series in 2007. Indian cricket will be poorer, if it were to happen. With an important tour Down Under in December-January, India will need the solidity of The Wall in Australia.
Ever the bridesmaid to stars — be it to Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly or even VVS Laxman (remember Kolkata 2001), Dravid has always remained the unsung hero of Indian cricket. So, where does Dravid stand in the pantheon of all-time greats? More pertinently, where does he stand in the pantheon of Indian cricket?
Only time will tell but in the meanwhile, The Wall will keep scaling the heights.
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