© CricInfo
Not since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 has a nation
agonised so much over a wall
Anand Vasu12-Feb-2002
| © CricInfo |
Not since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 has a nation
agonised so much over a wall. Chances are that an Indian teenager
could not tell you much about the struggles of East and West
Germany; in India, cricket-crazy demigod-worshipping India, there
is only one wall that counts – Rahul “the wall” Dravid.If you are a fan, as more than half the populace (including many
of the fairer sex) of this country is, then the wall is a symbol
of reliability, a high left elbow and straight bat. If you are a
detractor, as cricket writers sometimes tend to be, the very same
thing is an euphemism for a dour, deadpan approach and a
frustrating inability to beat the field.Either way, India’s recent showing in the limited-overs clashes
against England have demonstrated the need to have Dravid shoring
up the middle order. His return to international cricket after a
lay-off for shoulder treatment is to be welcomed. “I am feeling
much stronger now. There is nothing wrong really. I have been
hitting a few balls in the nets and feel good. The side game
against Zimbabwe will give me a good chance to get back in the
groove,” Dravid told from Bangalore. “I have played quite a few side games
even after becoming a regular for India – against Australia and
New Zealand for example – so it is nothing new,” he added.Another factor not particularly new to Dravid is the incessant
griping about his approach to Test and one-day cricket. “It is an
old story that goes on and on,” said the man who averages close
to 52 in the longer version of the game and scores almost 38 runs
per knock in one-dayers at a strike rate of 68.13. Dissecting the
statistics is a revealing process, and the best ones on Dravid
are famous enough. He possesses the highest average for a number
three batsman since Sir Don Bradman and is one of the few
cricketers to perform better abroad, averaging 53.2 from 27 Tests
abroad as against 50.69 in 26 Tests at home.The numbers narrate a fine tale, accurately representing Dravid’s
substantial contribution to Indian cricket. But how can that ever
change the immense frustration, the wave of irritation that
spreads through an Indian fan when, as in Bangalore recently
against England, Dravid scores a painful 3 in 61 balls against an
attack that can only humourously be described as menacing?”People have different expectations of their cricketers. Some
people have very high expectations of me as a batsman, and there
are others who rate me lower and do not expect much of me. You
have to be satisfied that you are giving the best you can, doing
what is best for the team, and move on,” said Dravid, explaining
how he dealt with things.For years now, Dravid has been rated as a cricketer who thinks
intensely about his game. Whether it is cricket in general, or
specifically his technique as a batsman, Dravid has always
appeared to have a plan. “Frankly, I have played for about six
years at this level and am constantly looking to set standards
for myself and meet them. I am always looking to improve as a
player, whether it is in one-day cricket or Test cricket. All the
time, you are playing against people who are professional and
getting better. If you don’t keep improving, you will be left
behind,” he opined.It all sounds good in theory, but how is a player on tour much of
the time, playing cricket day in and day out, supposed to put it
into practice? “If you want to become a better player, you really
need to concentrate on the process of learning,” explained
Dravid. “You have to keep looking at yourself and seeing what you
can do better, what changes you can make to improve. There is no
point putting too much stress on what other people think or say.
You have to look at things yourself.”Today, however, cricket is so big that there is always going to
be criticism and analysis. From former legends to scribes who
have never played the game, everybody has a right, and indeed a
brief, to offer his opinion. “I don’t really go around either
looking for what people have written about me or avoid it.
Obviously you get the newspaper at home and will have a glance,
just as the odd magazine article may catch your fancy.”Dravid, unlike many others, does not get irritated by noncricketers criticising the way he plays the game. “Sometimes
there is a lot you can learn from a former cricketer and from
others. Even if someone has not played the game, he might have
seen something that others missed. If there is sense in what
someone is saying, I use it,” said Dravid. “If it is something
that is simply critical without making sense, then you just have
to agree to disagree and move on. Everybody gets criticised,
whether a debutant or the greatest player in the world. People
have a job to do, and you have to understand that. They will be
critical. It is for me to go out, bat and do well.”
| © AFP |
Calm. Collected. Reasonable. Those are the impressions one forms
of Dravid by the end of a conversation. It is the chocolate-boy
image that has so permeated the mind-set of the average Indian
fan. One remembers a very different man, an angry young Rahul if
you will, when the most well-behaved of cricketers waved his bat
aggressively and even brandished his helmet obviously to a certain section
of the media on reaching his hundred at Kolkata against
Australia.When you see both facets, you begin to understand the other side
to the adulation, the toothy Pepsi advertisements, and the megabuck contracts. It is not easy being Rahul Dravid. “It is a
difficult thing, but that is also the charm of being an Indian
cricketer. There is so much on television and in the papers that
everyone has an opinion on things,” accepted Dravid
philosophically. “From former cricketers, who are expert
commentators on television, to the man who runs a sweet shop near
my house, everyone has a view on the game. But you need that, the
game needs that passion. It is not easy, but you have to
learn to accept it.”Dravid has done just that. If he had not, the wall would have
cracked, showed signs of weakness, and begun to crumble under the
constant pressure to be faultlessly correct and breathtakingly
successful at the same instant.
