Rahul Dravid known as ‘The Wall’ was an incredible asset for Team India. He emerged as the successful cricketer when Sachin Tendulkar was considered as the ‘God of Indian cricket’. With patiently facing the new ball in the middle, he acted as the shield for the team and helped other players to score runs.
Nevertheless, having a genius player like Sachin in the team, Rahul Dravid’s contribution might have been overshadowed, but it was clear how important was Dravid for the team.
In 1996, Rahul Dravid made the debut with Sourav Ganguly at Lord’s where he scored blistering 95. Perhaps, his knock was clouded in front of Ganguly’s 131.
However, probably, the story of his greatness remained the same as he played several match-saving knocks but could not come into the limelight.
Perhaps that’s why Former Pakistan cricketer Ramiz Raja has also lavished praise on Rahul Dravid’s career. He opined that it was not easy to survive when the comparison is drawn with Sachin Tendulkar but Dravid did create his own space in the team with his apt techniques.
Ramiz Raja on Rahul Dravid’s meritorious career:
“Maybe Rahul Dravid wasn’t as gifted as Sachin Tendulkar but to survive and compete with a great cricketer takes a lot of you. You know you’ve tried your best which is still not good enough to be the best batsman in the team and that can put you down,” Ramiz Raja was quoted as saying by Sportskeeda.
“But credit to Rahul Dravid, for at times outdoing Sachin Tendulkar. He was an extremely good batsman on a tough pitch because his defense was rock solid. And he had a great attitude as well at that pivotal No. 3 position and keeping as well,” Raja added.
Riaz, further, heaped praise on Dravid’s greatness. He said that he would always respect former Indian cricketer because of his contribution. As per him, Dravid was the most trusted player in the dressing room.
“You’d always respect Rahul Dravid. The greatness of a player is judged in the dressing room. If the team feels he will not let them down in a tough situation, for a gritty 30 or a 50, that’s what matters,” Raja further said.
Dravid played 164 Tests for India in which he scored 13,288 runs at an average of 52.31. He also played 344 ODIs in which he scored 10,889 runs at an average of 39.16.