BIDDING ADIEU- RAHUL THE GENTLEMAN CRICKETER
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    • BIDDING ADIEU- RAHUL THE GENTLEMAN CRICKETER
    The events in the last couple of months when the much hyped Dhoni's men in blue were brought down to earth by the unbeatable and most competitive Aussies followed by that ignominous exit from the three nation one day series and the exit from Asia cup beaten by once minnows Bangaladesh have ofcourse changed the course of Cricket In india. I for one believed that we need to be consistent in winning against every team and in every form of the game before we call ourselves No.1 a title that Dhoni's men got by default. In fact Ganguly even in his prime called India the second best team after Australia even though his team was capable of beating any one inthe world Australia included at any time. Unfortunatley for Ganguly the man whom he labored  bring in as Coach conspired to get rid of him and there by the profound unity in the team which Ganguly achieved after a fairly long time since 1983 when Kapil Dev could knit a team of world beaters.

    Rahul Dravid who demonstrated that he is made of sterner stuff even in trying circumstances in England could not keep up his promise in the tour downunder and his buddy Laxman- the very very special Laxman also failed miserably. Rahul is a wise man and called it quits before any one could gun for his ouster.

     

    Rahul Dravid is perhaps the greaterst Indian Cricketer ever to have played- even surpassing Sunil Manohar Gavaskar who was known for his technical prowess and Kapil Dev the two other cricketers who could challenge him for that title. I donot include Sachin Tendulkar in this for whatever his records, unlike Rahul or Laxman he has had few memorable match winning knocks to his credit. Who will ever forget that brilliant partnership at Eden Gardens when Rahul and Laxman fought back gallantly - carrying the fight to enemy's camp - untimatley help Saurav's India cause one of the biggest upsets in modern Cricket. Rahul had done everything the team wanted him to do, he has donned the mantle of a keeper to accomode one more specialist batsman or bowler under Saurav had been an excellent slip cardon fieldsman.He has played under trying circumstances with aplomb which few in Test cricket had ever managed. He was called the wall, resembling the Great Wall of China for he had always stood between the opponents and victory single handedly battling.  Saurav called him the best No.3 player ever to have played well I would rate him one of the best of all time greats to be counted alongside Sunil Gavaskar, Bradman who himself was No.3, Viv Richards, Javed Miandad, Ricky Ponting , Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Aravind De Silva.When in full flow, his batting was absolute poetry. he could have lacked the murderous blistkrieg of Viv Richards but his batting was delightful and effortless.

    The Man carried with him india's fortunes for more than a decade and he had never clamoured for publicity. It was difficult for any cricketer to be playing alongside the mercurial Tendulkar and yet earn a name for himself which all the three - Rahul , Saurav and Laxman were able to achieve. That speaks volumes of their brilliance.

    Rahul, we will  miss you. You were the epitome of a gentleman cricketer. More than Tendulkar you deserved the award of Bharat Ratna for you played for team india.

     

    May your tribes increase. May the new found hero at No.3 Virat Kohli try to emulate you.

     

     

     

     
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