10000 is not easy

After applauding Sehwag for his effort, it would be dastardly to ignore the achievement of a rare gentleman in the Indian squad, Rahul Dravid, the former Indian captain.

I had my doubts on Dravid’s captaincy. I thought he was unfit for the job. Time proved me right. He was not able to cope with the pressures and he quit, a good thing that is. A few wins are not enough to make a good captain, there is a thing called staying power. In the cruel and highly publicized world of international cricket, only the toughest or the lamest would outlast others.

Take Ganguly for example, he was tough; he had the qualities of leadership. He was fit for the job and he made a good captain. On the other end of the spectrum there was Azharuddin. A passive and unemotional man, he had the selectors with him, for he rarely fought with them. Both outlasted many others in the game, one for the qualities inherent in him of being a leader and the other because of the total absence of these very qualities.

Dravid was very middleclass in his approach, an out and out gentleman, he was nice to all and to the other teams, he had very intelligent and interesting notions about captaincy, but they lacked the gut instinct of a real leader. Not every intelligent decision would win points in a game like cricket. It is played with mental strength rather than pure acumen. If considered on the basis of pure talent, there could be any number of players fit to play at the highest level of the game. But most of them fail because of the lack of this inner determination, this hidden talent to handle pressure.

And that is what required of a good international player. If he can translate it into his captaincy he would become a good captain. Dravid did not have the knack to convert his “Great wall of India” effect into his captaincy. He crumbled when real pressure struck. This was but natural, his nice qualities made him a below average captain. People like me had a sort of inkling that this would happen.

But this one flaw does not make him anything other than the greatest player in the game now on technical lines. He plays out of the book every time he is out in the middle. Most other players in the game lack his technique and finesse. He is a little slow at times. But his role is just that, curb the onslaught of the opponents, and make it possible for others to take over.

Yet he has reached the pinnacle. He has now 10000 runs in his kitty. This is no mean achievement. It requires years of hard work and determination and playing form. It is a mammoth achievement for any batsman in international cricket. His greatness may be overshadowed by that of Sachin Tendulkar’s and Ganguly’s and other international greats.

He was a bit low when he quit captaincy. He was out of form for a while and had even the indignity of being dropped from the one day squad, which of course he did not deserve. Yet he came back and made good runs for the team at home and overseas. His determination has finally paid off and now he has earned a place among the very greats of the game.

Well done Dravid, keep up the good work, you are still young and there are a few years of cricket left in you still. You may not capture the interest of the lay persons who believe cricket is all about putting a bowler to the sword. To us one of your good defensive shots is as good as any glorious cover drives that you play.

It has been great watching you play. We cherish those memories. Thank you for giving us such pleasure over the years! 10000 runs are not easy but you made them look easy.