Rahul Dravid:

A tribute to an extraordinary human being.

Part  1

Rahul Dravid is no model; he is a role model. After Polly Umrigar’s departure it was left to the erudite gentleman Rahul Dravid to be India’s premier cricket ambassador.

With impeccable manners and exemplary conduct on and off the pitch, the exceptional leader of men gave our cricket a new dimension. He declared an India Test innings closed with his close compatriot on 194!

By Indian standards it could never be thought of. The statistical obsession of Indians is well known. For us Indians, individual performance invariably over-rides team’s interest. No Indian captain would have dared to deprive a most prominent individual of his personal achievement for the cause of the team. With this unique decision, he transformed Indian cricket into a team game.

The leader in Rahul Dravid did precisely that. In 2003-04 he went to Pakistan as the deputy captain. At Multan in the 1st Test, he had to take over the captaincy as the captain designate was injured. With India scoring a mammoth total in about 2 days, stand-in skipper Dravid decided that he would give his bowlers enough time to scalp the opposition twice in 3 days in its own den.

When he declared India’s innings, Sachin Tendulkar was on 194! Everyone was stunned. But Dravid true to his nationalistic spirit thought of Team India first and of the individual second. Initially ST was perhaps upset. But when RD explained the situation to him in the evening, the great batsman came back to his normal cheery self. Mind you, dear reader, when RD was discussing with ST on the issue, no one else was beside them.

Of course, after the victory was achieved, a few others took credit for the declaration! These individuals were supposed to have advised Rahul about the timing of the declaration! Indian media ‘roasted’ captain Dravid instead of giving him the due credit for the innings defeat inflicted on Pakistan in little over 4 days.

Despite overseas series victories against quality oppositions like West Indies and England, RD never got his due as among India’s premier cricket captains. His sophisticated profile kept him away from our shortsighted vision.

***

The first time I met Rahul Dravid was at Mumbai in 2005-06. The occasion was the inaugural edition of BCCI’s T20 tournament. BCCI’s inter stateT20 tournament is named after the memory of one of India’s master batsmen, Syed Mushtaq Ali. The match was at Wankhede Stadium and one of the teams happened to be Karnataka.

The day before the match at the pre-match meeting –where the two contesting teams meet the umpires and the match referee – Karnataka was represented by their new captain Yere Gowda, as the original captain Dravid was not certain to play. At the time he was leading India and the national team had just returned from a foreign tour and so the Karnataka manager Sudhakar Rao informed us that their original choice as captain, Rahul Dravid, may not be able to arrive on time for the match.

Next morning, before the toss while the umpires and I as the match referee were inspecting the pitch, we saw Rahul Dravid walking towards the pitch. As he came near, he exchanged pleasantries and then was about to step on the pitch itself. I quickly blurted out, “Are you leading the team in this match?” He shook his head and said, “No.” I smiled and added, “Probably you have forgotten that as a playing member you are not supposed to walk on the pitch. Only the captain has the prerogative.”

Instantly he stopped and said, “I am sorry. Thanks for reminding me.” I replied, “Cannot blame you, Rahul. As the India captain you have got used to walking on the pitch before the match. Anyway, no harm done. Thanks.”

Suddenly the huge frame of Venkatesh Prasad appeared. He thought I was having a confrontation with Rahul Dravid. He shrugged his shoulders and raised his voice, “Do you realize that you are arguing with the India captain.” Without a moment’s hesitation, the India captain Rahul Dravid cut him short, “Ref is correct. As an ordinary player I am not allowed on the pitch.”

This is the real Rahul Dravid. A man of courage; a man of character. Courageous enough to accept that he himself was about to make a mistake. He had no qualms in saying so in front of the curator, the umpires and others who were near us at the time. Revealed exemplary character to silence his colleague for being wrong. I feel proud to see that we still have such men with us

***.

Later that evening, after our match was over I went across to the Brabourne Stadium , the home of Cricket Club Of India (CCI), to watch another T20 match in progress. As I entered, Dilip Vengsarkar called me over to the seat beside him. On the other side was Rahul Dravid.

Vengsarkar introduced me to him saying, “Meet my friend Raju.” Straight-faced Dravid replied, “Met him this morning. A very lenient match referee.” When Dilip furrowed his eyebrows to know what had transpired earlier, Rahul smiled and mentioned the incident. Dilip added sauce, “Even when he was playing, Raju behaved like a match ref!”

As the conversation flowed, Rahul mentioned that he had liked reading my book, “The part about cricket being played during Mahabharata days was an eye-opener.”  I was astounded that he had found the time to read my writing. As if this was not enough, he added, “Rajan Bala told me to read your articles. I usually do.” He was so very matter of fact. No ego. No pretence. I came to learn that he was an avid collector of cricket books.

***

Later that season again our paths crossed. This time again at Wankhede. The occasion was a Ranji Trophy tie between Mumbai and Karnataka. Before leaving Calcutta, I had taken a first edition Cardus duplicate that I had in my collection for Rahul. My wife was mad at me, “Do you realize that you would be giving the India captain a moth-eaten, old book? What will he think of you?” I had told her before departure, “If any player would realize the book’s worth, that would be Dravid.”

 How correct I was. The moment he had the tattered copy in his hands, he uttered, “Are you sure you want to part with this original edition Cardus? This is a collector’s item. This will be a treasure in my collection.” The cerebral man did not bother about the exterior. Here was a man who could buy new books from all over the world. But he understood the value of antiquity.