Please Don't Misunderstand But Here's Why We Don't Deserve Rahul Dravid!
India lost the summit clash of WC to Australia (AP Photo)
The biggest fault of Rahul Dravid - if any - in this World Cup disappointment is that he is what he is.
We know Rahul Dravid for being the Wall or Mr Dependable.
But what we probably don’t know enough about him is that he conceals his disappointments as well as he’d defend India amid pressure or rather embarrassing results on the 22 yards.
At a time when anybody, really just about anybody from our India can offer all day long tributes to Virat, not that the great doesn’t deserve any, there’s so little reserved to appreciate a man under whose coaching the ‘King’ excelled as did perhaps Iyer, Gill, KL, the captain and maybe, all of them.
At a time where we didn’t even think once before rubbishing a gentleman like Dravid on social media saying all sorts of things just because his fault- if at all, it was- was in giving fair chance to all, Dravid stayed quiet.
Remember the harsh things said to “The Wall” when he kept experimenting and we fans kept trashing his tactics just because in this opinionated, “I know it better than you” age we are self-appointed cricket experts? All that coach Dravid - and cliches be darned - was doing was giving the likes of Yashasvi, Suryakumar, Shardul, Kuldeep and Iyer, among the many, a chance to prove themselves. Agreed, we lost the final. It’s that very match that we should have won having won all up to that point.
But if we can credit the “Hitman” Rohit Sharma for his well-thought-out captaincy, admire Virat Kohli for his incredible run of form and speak endlessly for Shami in the wake of his exciting 2023 ODI World Cup campaign (with the white ball), should we not reserve a word or two, if not a line, for Dravid’s contribution?
Truly; for us Sachin loving, Ganguly adoring, MSD-obsessed, and Kohli-salivating fanboys, somewhere Dravid has yet been pardoned for being essentially a “slow”, “unexciting” or maybe even boring cricketer.
There surely could be some among us for whom the very fact that he called time on Sachin’s 194 is the greatest human rights abuse known to modern mankind history.
It’s more painful than any recorded episode of war crime or hate-infested episode that happens often in an uncivilised land.
But then must we not ask ourselves that who is it that probably half the current Indian National Men’s Team considers a mentor? That’s whether we speak of Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, or Prithvi Shaw? Maybe, we know the answer.
Maybe, we know not conveniently for it will never suit our fanboy psyches that can’t ever imagine India’s actual Mr. Dependable getting the credit vis-a-vis the Maharajas or Gods of batting- right? Make no mistake, Sachin, Sehwag, Sourav and Laxman and why just them, even Zaheer, Gambhir, Yuvraj and Kumble are Kohinoors to India’s crown.
But are we really that shallow or insular to conveniently ignore the man who back then with the bat and today, with his humility and sheer selfless conduct is responsible for upholding the dignity (and pride) of the crown jewel that’s Team India.
And if Dravid really must be thanked, if at all, his critics can entertain the idea of having a change of heart, they must remember that in the aftermath of the loss to Australia, who faced the tough questions. Was captain Rohit thrown to the howling wolves or was Virat, Indian cricket’s very deserving and popular poster boy, sent in?
I know if I say that the true mark of a leader, an actual leader is the one who leads by example. You have heard it a hundred million times but here’s also the truth; something we can’t ignore and mustn’t. When he could so easily have ducked the tough bouncers, Dravid opened the inning and played until the end on November 19’s not-so-happy evening in front of the media.
He did so just like back on that ill-fated tour of England (2011-12) when the heroic Sachin, a far more experienced opening batsman could’ve opened the inning for India under duress didn’t, only for a familiar hugely under-appreciated man stepped in to save the day. Andrew guess what? He failed. Since India lost every Test it played on a tour back then with Anderson and Broad in their prime.
But Dravid emerged our lone reason for some smile, if at all- 468 runs, highest score of 146, a century at Lord’s. You remember Virat’s first ton and his most recent - as you must. You can go on and on about the Master Blaster’s 200 versus the Proteas and his hundred international centuries. But do you remember when the scorecard once read- Dravid as the opener, Dravid as the keeper and Dravid also the player who opened an inning since we had earned a shabby follow-upon.
Where were the gods then and where are India’s demigods now?
Still praying for Dravid’s departure as coach only so that someone less selfless and courageous as the mighty wall responsible for instilling values like devotion to the team’s cause can get more credit? But don’t worry- the man who made space for the others to step in will likely walk away since it’s easy to think for the self but hard to care about the country’s cause.
In a country that has millions for gods and never a harm with that, maybe there’ll be a day where we’ll make time to donate a few minutes of our app-obsessed, binge-watching, AI-addicted lifestyles to appreciate this authentic soul known as Rahul Sharad Dravid. And guess what- even if we don’t, the man himself won’t be affected.
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