Rahul Dravid, The Forgotten Hero Of Lord's Test In 1996

Dravid scored 95 in his debut Test innings [x] Dravid scored 95 in his debut Test innings [x]

The summer of 1996 was a special occassion for the Indian Test team. They toured England for a riveting Test series, however, controversy erupted before the Lord's game, when Navjot Singh Sidhu walked out of the team due to differences with then skipper Mohammad Azharuddin.

The team management had no choice, but to hand debut cap to two future captains, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. Media were hovering around the Indian team, knowing that the dressing room was not in a good state after the departure of Sidhu.

Some 90s are greater than centuries

But despite all the controversies, the Indian team showed great fightback and it was led by two youngsters - Ganguly and Dravid.

England batted first and posted a healthy 344 on the board, courtesy of a sublime century from keeper-batter, Jack Russell. In those days, anything above 300 on a green top was a difficult mountain to climb, but Dravid and Ganguly had some other ideas.

Batting at number 3, Ganguly played a blinder of an innings and etched his name on the lord's honours board with a brilliant 131 against a quality English attack. While he deservingly hogged all the limelight, another star quietly went about his business.

Batting at number 7, an unusual position for Dravid, he played with grit and determination and soaked up all the pressure when Sachin Tendulkar was dismissed at a crucial juncture. He matches Ganguly's falmboyance with his own technical flair as the England bowlers looked clueless in front of him.

The then future India captain, was technically astute in his defence, and was the opposite of what Ganguly was. Dravid would fall agonizingly short of his maiden Test ton, when he was dismissed for a well-compiled 95 runs, which took India to a score of 429.

Surely Ganguly's innings was pivotal as his counter-attacking knock pushed England on the back-foot, but had it not been for Dravid's resilience, the fragile Indian batting lineup would have crumbled under pressure. He truly was the unsung hero of the famous Lord's Test.