RAHUL DRAVID’S CAREER RECORDS

Played 94 Tests in succession since making his Test debut vs. England at Lord’s in 1996 (up to game vs Sri Lanka at Delhi in 2005-06), which was a world record for making most Test appearances in a row since making a Test debut. It was surpassed by Adam Gilchrist, who played 96 Tests in succession.

When he stepped on to the field against England at Wankhede Stadium in March 2006, he became the sixth Indian to appear in 100 Tests and joined Sunil Gavaskar. Dilip Vengsarkar, Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble.

He is the first player to post a century each in all the ten Testplaying countries.

He is also one of the nine batsmen in Test annals to have recorded centuries against all the nine Test opponents - the other eight being Gary Kirsten, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Marvan Atapattu and Kumar Sangakkara.

His five double centuries are the most for India and only Sir Donald Bradman (12), Brian Lara (9), Wally Hammond (7), Marvan Atapattu (6), Javed Miandad (6) and Kumar Sangakkara (6) have recorded more double hundreds than Dravid.

Holds the Indian record for posting 3 double centuries during the 2003-04 season.

Twice in his career, he has recorded a century in each innings of a Test match: 190 & 103* vs. N.Z. at Hamilton, 1998-99 and 110 & 135 vs. Pakistan at Calcutta in 2004-05. Only Sunil Gavaskar has achieved the feat on three occasions for India.

RAHUL THE ONLY INDIAN TO RECORD FOUR CENTURIES IN CONSECUTIVE TEST INNINGS


115 vs. England Nottingham 2002

148 vs. England Leeds 2002


100 vs. West Indies Bombay 2002-03

217 vs. England The Oval 2002

Uncovers The Story Of An Intensely Committed And Focused Individual Whose Single-Minded Devotion To His Craft Elevated Him To Greatness

When Rahul Dravid pushed a ball from South African fast bowler Mornie Morkel wide of mid-on and took off for a run, it wasn’t just another single that he was completing. It was his 10,000th Test run, one that he celebrated with uncharacteristic glee, hands raised in celebration, even as he pointedly gestured to his personal support staff, seated at the Anna Pavilion, and said a silent ‘thank you’ to all those who have enabled him to pursue his single-minded goal, that of being recognised as one among the world’s best batsmen.

The journey to greatness has been a long one. The year 1990 seems so far away, but that’s where Dravid’s cricket story begins. It was the final year of college for some, but it was the first year among the big boys for Dravid. Then a slightly freckled, wiry lad, he is today only the sixth man to have scored over 10,000 Test runs. Then a shy introvert, today he is among the country’s most articulate sportspersons. Then a murderer of spin bowling, today he wears down the best and fastest of fast bowlers. It has been some journey, but he now stands alongside batting legends such as Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Sunil Gavaskar, all of whom will no doubt fondly welcome the latest entrant to Club 10,000.

From St Joseph’s Boys School to St Joseph’s Commerce College (SJCC) is a natural step for most Josephites in Bangalore, but for Dravid it was much more than that. Here was where he would get three degrees for the price of one. It was a great place to study; the college believed in creating well-rounded personalities rather than just bright students; and most importantly, SJCC had a fantastic cricket team, one of the hardest to break in to, even if, sadly enough, that is no longer the case.

Many a talented cricketer had made his way into the college after being a star in school cricket, only to then warm the benches for a year or two before getting a look in. This was simply due to the strength of the team and not any senior versus junior issues, as is (or not) the case with Indian cricket these days.

But Dravid at 17 had special ability and it was more than apparent when he was not put on the waiting list. In fact, when he was returning from injury once and straightaway included in the XI for a three-day final, his long innings prowess being apparent even then, the lad he replaced was so incensed that he left the college the following year.

Single-mindedness has always been Dravid’s big asset, and this was something that his friends were exposed to pretty early. It was a two-day fun-trip out of Bangalore, again in 1990, where even as most of the team drank the night away at a cool hill station, Dravid spent the night practicing. No, it wasn’t cricket. He found out that the wicketkeeper was a great dancer and decided it was time for some lessons.

What the dance teacher didn’t realise was that this was no ordinary pupil, who would go away after a while; the lessons went on for the whole night. You can see that his feet movement is near perfect on the cricket field these days and has been so for more than a while.

Apart from being consistent, as his Test average of over 55 shows, he’s been known for his perseverance, focus and total commitment to his and the team’s cause. In the second half of his career, he’s added balance. Balance not just at the batting crease but life in general, with his young family now taking up a lot of his quality time. That, perhaps, was one of the reasons he gave up the captaincy, not knowing that he was giving up his place in the One-day team too with that one unexpected action. But he was not running away from responsibility, rather it was a new one, that of raising his little son, that had taken precedence.

On Saturday, Dravid, the eternal team man, put all the recent bad blood behind him and turned the spotlight back on himself with an individual achievement that also gave him access to the even more exclusive 10,000-run Test and ODI club, where he joined Tendulkar and Lara as only the third batsman to achieve the grand double.

Dravid can, for sure, rest content that he has done more than enough to be described as one of the greatest batsmen in the world.

Rahul Dravid, during the course of his 111 off 291 balls against South Africa at Chennai, reached a number of milestones:


When on 48, he completed his 4,000 runs in 51 Tests at home (4063 at an average of 51.43 in 51 Tests) and became the third Indian after Sunil Gavaskar (5067 at an average of 50.17 in 65 Tests) and Sachin Tendulkar (5056 at an average of 54.95 in 63 Tests) to aggregate 4000 runs or more in India.

When his score reached 80, he became the third Indian after Tendulkar and Gavaskar and the sixth in Test cricket to amass 10,000 runs

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His feat of reaching 10,000 runs in 206 innings is the second fastest in Test annals, next only to Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara, who both recorded the milestone in 195 innings.

When he reached 100, he became the third Indian after Tendulkar (39) and Gavaskar (34) and the 12th overall to register 25 centuries or more in Test cricket.


DRAVID’S AGGREGATE OF 7,677 (AVE.57.72) IN 150 INNINGS IS THE BEST BY ANY NO.3 BATSMAN IN TEST CRICKET.

His tally of 19 centuries at No.3 position is the third best in Test cricket - the top two being Ricky Ponting (27) and Don Bradman (20).