Rahul Dravid, fondly called the Wall of Indian cricket, is undoubtably one of the greatest batsmen in Indian cricket history. Known for his selflessness, Dravid saved India from the jaws of defeat on many occasions. He played some gritty knocks for India and made some epic contributions to India’s landmark victories overseas in his illustrious career spanning over 15 years. As the cricket stalwart turns 51, here are some of his great test knocks for India cricket.
148 Vs England (Leeds) 2002
By far, this was the best innings in Rahul Dravid's illustrious career where he scored 148 runs as the conditions were not great for batting. Riding on his 148 along with centuries from Tendulkar and Ganguly, India posted a huge total of 628 runs. One noteworthy thing about that knock was how he respected the conditions and believed in his technique which would help him score runs against a good English bowling attack.
“If you score a hundred today, when you retire this would be the highest point on your C.V.” former Indian coach John Wright had said.
233 and 72 Vs Australia in Adelaide 2003
In the match, Rahul Dravid played an innings for the ages against the quality attack comprising of Bichel, and Gillespie. He scored an epic double ton which helped India scored 523 runs in their 1st Innings. As Dravid’s knock reduced the 1st innings deficit to over 30 runs, India needed to score 233 runs to win the test in the 4th innings. Dravid again stood out by scoring 72 as India won a historic test in Adelaide.
81 and 68 Vs West Indies in Kingston 2006
In this low-scoring test match, Dravid’s grit and determination again stood out with the scores of 81 and 68 where other batsmen were finding it difficult to score runs. India went on the win that test Vs West Indies and was one of key moments in Dravid’s tenure as India’s test captain.
Look at some Records Rahul Dravid holds as a player
Dravid holds the record for most catches in Test cricket history with 210.
Dravid played a stunning 120 innings in ODI cricket without getting out for duck
He faced the most balls in test cricket with 31528.
Dravid holds the record for spending the most time on the crease in test cricket. He spent 44,152 minutes which is equal to 735 hours and 52 minutes.
He jointly holds the record of scoring the most 90’s in test cricket with 10. Sachin Tendulkar and Steve Waugh are the other two batsmen.