If there ever was a list of the most prolific batters the cricketing world has ever seen, one name that will almost certainly make the cut is Rahul Dravid. His tally of 13288 runs in 164 Test matches, the 4th highest in the longest format came at an astounding average of 52.31, a testimony to his consistency.
This stellar career, though, began during India’s tour to England in 1996 under Mohammed Azharuddin's captaincy. The 2nd Test of the 3-match series at Lord’s is forever etched in the hearts and minds of cricket lovers all around the world as it marked the debut of not just Dravid but also the flamboyant southpaw Sourav Ganguly and right-hand seamer Venkatesh Prasad.
Both Ganguly and Rahul couldn’t have had a better start to their international career with the former scoring his first century and the latter, who missed it but still scored 95.
Despite the fact that it has been 26 years since that event, the current head coach of India says he still recalls every detail of those five days.
"There's a large part of my career that I forget but that (Test debut) seems like yesterday. You know getting the privilege to play a Test match for India is something that I can clearly remember or visualise," he told India's first-ever Olympics individual gold medalist Abhinav Bindra on his podcast 'In The Zone.'
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Just ten minutes before the toss, "The Wall" revealed that he learned that this would be his first Test. Sanjay Manjrekar sustaining an injury had provided Dravid with the opportunity.
"Just 10 minutes before toss, Azharuddin told me that I'll be playing because Manjrekar had sort of failed a fitness test, and then just that feeling that came over. It was a mixture of nervousness and panic but also the sheer joy of knowing that my dream had come true," he said.
He said that although he missed his century by just 5 runs, he has no regrets about it.
"And luckily for me, we lost the toss, we were fielding and it gave me a little bit of time to settle down, and compose myself before going out to bat which was my primary skill. I remember so much about those five days than I remember about my career. Just walking out to bat, scoring my first runs. The shot that got me to fifty, being dropped by Nasser Hussain at point, getting more confident as the game progressed, going to and fro, enjoying those five days. Of course, getting out for 95... I have played that shot time and again in my head. A lot of people have asked me about missing out on that hundred. Yes, I was but if somebody had told me at the first morning of that Test match that I'd score 95, I would have taken it with both hands," he added.
He also holds the record for the most catches in the longest format with 210 catches throughout his career in whites.
(HT INPUTS)
