Dravid Retirement In International Cricket

 Rahul Dravid retired after 16 years in international cricket

Rahul Dravid's retirement from international cricket was announced at his home ground, the Chinnaswamy Stadium, in a function room filled with more than 200 people. Family, team-mates, friends, KSCA members, officials and journalists had gathered - as did fans watching a live broadcast - to mark the end of a remarkable career and a "reassuring presence" in the Indian team.

The press conference began on schedule and, within three-quarters of an hour, Dravid left the room and international cricket as he had walked in. Swift, smooth, business-like, and, on Friday, to the sound-and-light burst of camera flashbulbs. The significance of Friday's announcement will be understood only six months down the line, when India play Test cricket for the first time in 16 years without the most reliable one-drop in their history.

The decision to retire was not sudden, he said; the period of contemplation had lasted over a year as he assessed his game series after series. The disappointment of the Australia tour had not given him any 'eureka' moment around his decision to leave the game. "I didn't take the decision based on one series… these decisions are based on a lot of other things, it's the culmination of a lot of things. I don't think it's based on what happened in the last series. For each one it comes differently, for me it's come with a bit of contemplation, a bit of thought, with friends and family."

The decision, Dravid said, had been easy as it was difficult, that he had known "deep down" that it was time for the "next generation" to take over. It was tough to leave "the life I have lived for 16 years and, before that, five years of first class cricket. It is all I have known all my grown life … it wasn't a difficult decision for me because I just knew in my heart that the time was right, and I was very happy and comfortable in what I had achieved and what I had done. You just know deep down that it is time to move on and let the next generation take over… "

Dravid entered the function room straight into a scrum of photographers, looking almost apologetic at having caused such a fuss. He was dressed in his India blazer and seated on the podium next to BCCI president N Srinivasan and his former team-mate, the KSCA president, Anil Kumble. The walls around him were lined with portraits of Karnataka's Test players, in the front row of the audience were members of his family, team-mates and the cricket community of the city.

He began by reading out his statement, his voice steady as he listed the people who'd played a part in every stage of his career - coaches, selectors, trainers, physios, officials, team-mates, family, even the media. He ended with the Indian cricket fan. "The game is lucky to have you and I have been lucky to play before you… My approach to cricket has been reasonably simple: it was about giving everything to the team, it was about playing with dignity and it was about upholding the spirit of the game. I hope I have done some of that. I have failed at times, but I have never stopped trying. It is why I leave with sadness but also with pride."

With the statement ended and applause breaking out, Dravid looked at his wife in the first row. There was both relief and calm on his face and something other than television lights reflecting in his eyes. After the contemplation and the deliberation, the conversations with people he trusted, it was over.

Dravid became the first of India's senior-most cricketers - including Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman - to quit the game after a season of speculation surrounding their future. His decision follows a poor tour of Australia but he enjoyed a prolific run through 2011, scoring five centuries - including four in the Caribbean and England. However, he is set to captain Rajasthan Royals in the upcoming IPL season.

The biggest surprise of the afternoon, however - far more unexpected than even the finality of Dravid's retirement - was to follow. It came from BCCI president N Srinivasan: a man famous for an undemonstrative, glacial public face, he made an emotional and heartfelt speech. Srinivasan's spoke extempore, his voice wavering more than once as he talked of an "irreplaceable" cricketer. He recalled having watched Dravid "grow from the days he played club cricket in Chennai, from the Ranji Trophy days … to the time he captained India". He called Dravid an "ambassador for the sport, for the Indian team and for India".

"None of us really want to see such great players go away, we like to think they are permanent," Srinivasan said. "I think that deciding when to retire is possibly the hardest decision Rahul has ever faced. It is not easy to say adieu…"

Kumble called Dravid one of Karnataka's "finest cricketing sons" and spoke of his "reassuring presence" in the dressing room. It was Kumble who got Dravid to crack the first smile of the afternoon, when he said now that Dravid had retired the KSCA would "expect to see you often in the association wearing the administrative hat". Kumble also offered Dravid a few tips on life after retirement, saying that apart from being busier "with exceptional demands made on your time, your ability to say no will be challenged like never before".

Sitting in the audience was Dravid's former team-mate Javagal Srinath, the current KSCA secretary, who had walked into the room before the event to check if the arrangements were in order. Dravid's immediate future includes six weeks of the IPL and he offered no clues as to whether he would take up a post-retirement life as coach, administrator or commentator. He did say though that because he loved routines, it was possible his new routines would involve dropping his sons off at school and shopping for groceries.

Among Dravid's contemporaries, both Kumble and Sourav Ganguly retired just after Test matches and Dravid was asked whether he had not wanted to end his career that way, walking off a field of play. The idea, Dravid said, had not struck him because he did not want to drag things on. He said he was sure of his reasons to play cricket: "to win Test matches for India. I've done that for 16 years and I feel the time was right, I've had a great run. I have given this some thought … at the end of the day when a player has to go, he knows he has to go and I didn't feel the need to drag it on longer [in order to have a farewell Test]."

Dravid Records

Kent considers Dravid as one of its own

The Hindu File photo: Rahul Dravid. Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy.

 

It has been 11 years since Rahul Dravid spent a summer in Kent playing county cricket but fans here still talk of the senior Indian batsman as one of their own and a benchmark for consummate professionalism.

 

Dravid’s figures - 1221 runs from 16 matches at 55.50 with two centuries - aren’t too phenomenal.

But those few months are still spoken of with awe and admiration for the much-liked batsman. It is still impossible to initiate a discussion on Dravid the person before locals have spoken about his cricket and cricketing manners.

Martin McCague, the fast bowler of the club who played Tests for England in the 90s, is absolutely beholden to the Indian star.

“Everyone talks about how he stamped his authority against Shane Warne at Portsmouth that season when the Wizard of Oz tried everything to plot his downfall. Dravid had a 70-odd in the first innings and absolutely brilliant century in the second.

“Then there was that innings against Andy Caddick on a diabolical pitch where the ball was spitting fire. He made 90 but it was a sensational knock. Dravid tended to keep low on the ball and since he also tried to play with soft hands, it was inevitable. He was rapped and hit quite often on his fingers,” remembers McCague.

Outside cricket, Dravid did everything which a professional is expected to do in county circuit.

“I remember he always made himself available for team meal dinners. He could have excused himself at times if he wanted to but he never did so,” adds McCague.

Bipin Patel is a local cameraman who followed Dravid closely that summer.

Over a period of time, it became more than an acquaintance between the two and Patel once called him over for dinner at his place in Maidstone, a neighbouring town to Canterbury.

“I offered to pick him up but he insisted he would come over by himself. He wasn’t behind the appointed hour. Rahul was still a bachelor those days and I remember his parents later came over to look after their boy in England,” said Patel.

Patel remembers Dravid as a person who liked dressing casually yet impeccably at all times.

“He preferred check shirts over others, those days,” adds Patel.

McCague also finds one of his stand-out memories about Dravid as someone with not a hair out of place at all times.

“You wouldn’t find him in shorts or such things. His cricketing gear was immaculate. His cricketing attire was always pristine white.”

Patel’s two daughters, Riti and Himaya, are now budding cricketers but were teenagers when Dravid dropped by their place for dinner.

“I remember his thumb was broken those days. He was very pleasant and never spoke like a star. Even in private, family settings there was no mention of his favourite actors or movies,” said Riti.

“I recall him mentioning that he missed home-cooked food a lot,” avers Himaya.

Dravid, over the years, has developed a habit to read a lot but McCague doesn’t recall him with books a lot those days.

“He liked sitting by the window and looking outside in the dressing room. He always seemed to be thinking one thing or the other.”

Graham Cowdrey, son of the legendary Colin, played 179 first class games but had retired by the time Dravid came over to Kent. The two became close friends.

McCague also remembers Dravid as someone who was intense but never too preoccupied.

“He always had time for others. If youngsters came over, Rahul was willing to speak to them, share his experiences and offer advice if required. He never kept himself aloof or showed any chip on his shoulder. Alongwith Aravinda de Silva, Rahul was easily the two most popular cricketing imports of the last generation to Kent.”

The affection for Dravid was visible at St. Lawrence ground where he was honoured and felicitated on the pitch during Indians vs Kent match on Friday by the county officials as one of their own lads who now straddles the stage of international cricket like a giant.

Now a veteran of 157 Tests, game’s fourth biggest century maker, the second highest scorer ever in Test cricket, Dravid seems in as prime a force now as he was a decade ago.

Ponting Comments On Dravid

I persuaded Dravid not to retire: Ponting

  

AP A file photo of Ricky Ponting.

 

Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting claims that he persuaded Rahul Dravid against retiring when he was written off after a string of low scores last year and the in-form Indian batsman has reciprocated the support by inspiring him during his lean patch.

Dravid, the lone Indian batsman to perform well with three centuries and 461 runs in the team’s recent 0-4 Test whitewash at the hands of England, was woefully out of form last year and Ponting said he encouraged the veteran right-hander to carry on despite the criticism.

“I remember after our last series in India there was a lot of talk and speculation about Dravid being finished,” Ponting told ‘ESPNcricinfo’

“I actually went and found him at the end of the series and said ‘don’t you even think about retiring’ because I just saw some stuff in a few of his innings that suggested he was still a very, very good player.

“I just said ‘don’t let them wear you down, don’t let them get you down’ I received a similar text message before and after the Ashes from him as well,” he added.

The 36-year-old Ponting has not scored a Test century since January last year but he is confident of regaining his touch and he is looking upto Dravid for inspiration.

“There are a few (who provide an inspiration for batsmen of advancing years). Sachin (Tendulkar) and (Jacques) Kallis both had a great last year; Dravid is doing well now.

“It’s not only good for guys of my age to see guys doing that, it’s good for the younger blokes to see it as well; to know that if you keep doing the right things and working hard, and if you’ve got talent, then age is not a barrier in our game,” he said.

Speaking about the state of the game in general, Ponting said he is worried about the impact of Twenty20 on youngsters.

“The big worry I’ve had about Twenty20 cricket and even other shorter forms of the game being played at really developmental times in kids’ careers is that it won’t teach them the art of concentration.

“Cricket for me when I was growing up meant batting until someone got me out, and if that took them a week then that’s how long it took them,” he said.

“Now, even Under-17s and Under-19s are playing T20 games in national championships, and at the detriment of two-day games. Good state players these days are averaging 35; if you were averaging 35 when I was playing your dad would go and buy you a basketball or a footy and tell you to play that. So there are areas of concern there; I don’t know how you change them,” he explained.

Asked about India’s slide from the top of ICC rankings after the debacle in England, Ponting said it would be interesting to see how Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men do once the veterans retire.

“India still haven’t reached that point that I thought they’d get to yet. They’ve still got that crux, those great batters in that side. Time will tell with India now. Dravid was probably one who was in the gun before the rest of them and he’s found a way to come through,” he said.

“They (Tendulkar, Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman) are all about the same age and they won’t go on forever. They will be tested more than anything with their bowlers.

“I think we found even in the last few years that a lot of their spin bowling probably isn’t as strong as it used to be, and if you take Zaheer (Khan) out of their fast bowling stocks there’s not much left there either; so they’ve got an interesting couple of years ahead,” he added.

On whether India was focusing too much on Twenty20 and ignoring Tests, Ponting said, “They’re probably prioritising Twenty20 cricket as much as anyone aren’t they, with the IPL being based there and the commitment some players have to certain franchises and tournaments going on around that.”

“I reckon a good example of where their cricket is now is the fact they played R.P. Singh in that last Test match, when he hadn’t played a first-class game since January,” he explained.