RaviSez

Only when I was going through an scorecard for this match that was played in the Steel plant colony in Vizag, that I realized that Rahul Dravid played in it and that I might have seen him play in that match. Little did I realilze then, that a future Indian captain went unnoticed and he would go on to play hundred test matches; that match was all about Anil Kumble who we were all excited to see because he had already made a debut with the Indian team. A few years later I saw him on TV playing in what I think was the first champions trophy; this time it was all about Vikram Rathore, the golden boy at that time who stole the limelight and who played a test before Dravid did. Dravid debuted in the next test along with his pal Saurav Ganguly; now it's Saurav's turn to steal the thunder with a debut century and Dravid missed the mark by five runs. I think there are several occassions of which the most famous second best knock was with Laxman in Kolkata. The media called him bridesmaid and such. I notice one thing here: consistency. Whether it's the best knock or not -- he gave his best in all situations.

Then it turned around. I don't know how the transformation came. He picked up the wicket-keeping gloves just to stay in the one-day team when they called him unfit for ODIs. Suddenly he came from being the second best to becomig the best. He scored centuries at will but most importantly contributed everytime in an Indian win. I was never a fan of Rahul Dravid but I greatly respect this man for the way he plays the game. He commands it.