Cricket is just another brick in this wall

There was and is only one Rahul Dravid. There can be no other. I will miss Rahul in the dressing room and out in the middle" - Sachin Tendulkar

His character on-field is a clear resonance of his character off-field. Always filled with grit, power, resilience, fight, responsibility, concentration, temperament, confidence and self belief. The most meticulous person who is entitled to be an ambassador of this gentleman's game in the modern era. The only Indian cricketer I know who speaks the same brand of cricket he plays.

The writing can be on the wall, but the wall can never be written off. The value of a human performing a miracle is more awed when compared to god performing one. The key difference a human brings is, the value added by the amount of practice, hard work, concentration and dedication to get there, is far more creditable as it can be witnessed through human eye. In spite of that, that feat is not considered something extraordinary because its after all performed by a human. In cricket, Sachin has always been a god and Dravid has always been a human.

If you count every single strand of hair in your body, it will equal to the number of times Dravid's brilliant  performances has been overshadowed by others. If you count every single wink of your eyes, it will equal to the number of times Dravid stood up tall like a wall to save India from trouble. Mr. Dependable is such a massive responsibility to shoulder. Though no credit can be taken away from Tendulkar, In true fairness, Dravid has performed that role with more aplomb and consistency. Having said that he's by far one of the best catalyst India could ever get. In such a position, his amalgamations with Sachin, Sourav and especially Laxman have created their own distinctive chemistry, a sense of aura and a feeling of nostalgia.

In the last few years, he's had to twine in both the opener's role as well as the most important position in any batting order at No.3, given the performance of Indian openers in the recent past have been dismal. He hasn't complained because he takes that as an opportunity and not as a threat. This warrior has created his own style of waging a battle against all odds. An inimitable style of stubborn resilience who stands even when everything around him is in ruins; who doesn't get deterred even while chaos prevails around him; who uses his cricket bat as his mouth piece to answer critics. His in-depth knowledge of the game, techniques and his ability to analyze situations puts this man a class apart. The Bradman's oration was quite a hair raising experience, with every word making so much of sense aided with his subtle sense of humor. No one else could have pulled such an intense speech with a thin thread of worry, concern, sarcasm & the future of cricket threaded into the Bradman's oration.   

Rahul was thoroughly used for the growth of indian cricket. He traveled the batting order at the demand of any situation. He was used as a stop gap keeper to fit an extra batsman into the line up. At times of desperation he was also asked to turn his arm over. When the openers failed, the faith was put on him and more often than not he has replied rather powerfully. He has not only been a 'wall' in batting, but also proved to be a wall among the tremors of BCCI. There was a time when haters spat on the wall, kicked it, drilled it, and even tried to decimate it, but the wall wouldn't budge. The haters then got tired and leaned on the same wall for rest, because they had no other place to go to. That's magnanimity for you and more importantly that's Rahul Dravid for you.

If 16 years of his cricket can give me a high, I'd be more than happy to fall into a trance. But the importance of the high is only valued when it disappears leaving you gasping for more. Let me tell you friends, cricket is just another brick in this wall. He transcends beyond that. Guess the time has come for a cricket museum to be built with nothing in it but for the walls. I'm grateful to this sport for churning out such a valuable gem and cricket is a clear winner for having him. I'm proud to be a Dravidian