Rahul Dravid: Swan song for a workhorse

Source: cnngo.com
Writer: Gaurav Kapur

Rahul Dravid has two kinds of fans. The ones that think he’s cute and intense (mostly women) and the other who think he’s sturdy and reliable (old school cricket fans). And it is this vast list of devoted followers that explain the off field career of an Indian batsman known as The Great Wall of India.

There are precious few young followers of the game who revere Dravid. They respect him, they may even like him (there’s very little to dislike about him), but are they likely to sit in the sun for three hours to watch him score a hundred? I sincerely doubt it. For he is not swashbuckling, he’s not grand, he’s not glam. But he’s one of the batting greats of world cricket today and mark my words, will go down as one of the greats of all time.

He will also be known as the player who never got his due.

Rahul Dravid has the highest number of "significant" innings: A Cricinfo analysis

It is nice to be back after a valuable and recharging break. It is also wonderful to renew acquaintance with the valued readers. The break was necessary but I could not wait for the self-imposed sabbatical to be over.
In this article I have gone back to the reader's suggestions, specifically Xolile. He had suggested a few months back that I should look at separating the significant Test innings based on runs scored and balls faced, wherever such information is available, and rating batsmen using this information. I have taken that suggestion and completed the analysis after significantly improving the basis.

He had suggested that I take 80 runs and 160 balls as the basis. I have instead worked on a dynamic fixing of the cut-off points based on the specific match conditions. The idea is that I should achieve the following inclusions and exclusions through this analysis.

Rahul Dravid rewarded with "Pride of Karnataka"

Gardener of MindTree Subroto Bagchi; Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid; Kannada cinema director Yogaraj Bhat; and co-founders of the non-governmental organisation (NGO), Janaagraha, Ramesh and Swati Ramanathan, were honoured with the award by NGO Round Table India in the city on Tuesday.

Dravid won the jury’s award in the field of sports. He said he was inspired by the NGO’s work spread over half a century.