Full name | Rahul Sharad Dravid |
Born | 11 January 1973 (1973-01-11) (age 38)
Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India |
Nickname | The Wall, Jammy |
Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
Batting style | Right-handed |
Bowling style | Right arm off spin |
Role | Batsman, Wicketkeeper | | |

Rahul Sharad Dravid played his 344th and last One Day International with his typical classic style at Cardiff on Friday. Though his labour did not resulted into a win for India but he showed the world his great batting style for the last time. Sadly always considered a better Test Player, but you may find a different story in his ODI credentials. No doubt in his first eight matches he scored just 63 runs including his debut in against Sri Lanka in April 1996. Even his first hundred, 107 against Pakistan in May 1997, came after 35 ODI’s and it took 247 matches to complete his 10th century, 104 again against Pakistan in April 2005. After this ton he for the first time touched average of 40 in his career. Critics always wanted him to be more aggressive. His patience in Tests was a virtue but ODIs demanded quick runs.
He used to have problem finding gaps and lacked an oft-used strategy to keep the scoreboard ticking in the initial years. but his hard work made him the back bone of the team. The fact that Dravid has 10,889 runs in 344 matches (@ 39.16), including 12 centuries and 83 half-centuries, corroborates his successful transition from a predominantly Test player to a reliable team member in the one-day set up.
The second highest scorer ever in Test cricket also happens to occupy the seventh spot in the ODI list — only behind Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Sanath Jayasuriya, Inzamam-ul Haq, Sourav Ganguly and Jacques Kallis. Playing what was his maiden World Cup, in 1999, Dravid finished the tournament’s highest scorer — aggregating 461 runs in eight matches (@ 65.86), even though India failed to make the last four. In fact, that year happened to be the most fruitful one in his ODI career. He totaled 1761 runs in 43 matches (@ 46.34) and scored six of his 12 career centuries, including a magnificent 154 against New Zealand at Hyderabad — his highest ODI score.
The 2004-05 period was another productive one, with Dravid aggregating 1025 runs (@ 39.42) in 31 matches (in 2004) and scoring another 1092 runs (@ 47.48) in 30 matches the following year. In February 2007, at Margao, he became one of the few batsmen to surpass the 10,000 ODI runs mark, against Sri Lanka — the country he had made his debut against. Besides, he reached No. 5 in the ICC ODI rankings and captained India in the 2007 ICC World Cup.
However, things have been anything but hunky-dory in the last few years. Since the last time India toured England (in 2007), Dravid has played in just 16 ODIs, the selectors preferring other options in his place. This prompted the veteran to concentrate solely on his Test career. However, success in the longer version, coupled with the failure of the young brigade to cope with the moving ball in England, made the selectors go back the player who is referred by many as ‘The Wall’.
The recall did not elate Dravid; it simply amused him. More importantly, it made him take a step that would ensure there is no place for such opportunism in the future.
September 16, 2011 has marked the end of an illustrious career, of a player whose perseverance translated into success.
And Dravid will move on to add more chapters to an even more remarkable Test career.
Career statistics |
Competition | Test |
| FC | LA |
Matches | 157 |
| 288 | 444 |
Runs scored | 12,775 |
| 22,959 | 15,147 |
Batting average | 53.00 |
| 55.72 | 42.54 |
100s/50s | 35/60 | | 65/114 | 21/111 |
Top score | 270 |
| 270 | 153 |
Balls bowled | 120 |
| 617 | 477 |
Wickets | 1 |
| 5 | 4 |
Bowling average | 39.00 |
| 54.60 | 105.25 |
5 wickets in innings | 0 | | 0 | 0 |
10 wickets in match | 0 | | 0 | 0 |
Best bowling | 1/18 |
| 2/16 | 2/43 |
Catches/stumpings | 207/0 |
| 346/1 | 233/17 | |
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ODI Statistics - Performance Analysis at Home, Away and Neutral Venues |
| Mat | Runs | HS | BatAv | 100s | 50s | Wickets | Best | BowlAv | 5w | 10w | Ct | St |
Home | 94 | 3323 | 153 | 43.16 | 6 | 23 | 4 | 2-43 | 29.50 | - | - | 47 | 2 |
Away | 119 | 3975 | 153 | 40.98 | 2 | 36 | 0 | 0-6 | 6.00 | - | - | 56 | 5 |
Neutral | 131 | 3591 | 153 | 34.53 | 4 | 24 | 0 | 0-10 | 46.00 | - | - | 92 | 7 |
Overall | 344 | 10889 | 153 | 39.17 | 12 | 83 | 4 | 2-43 | 42.50 | - | - | 195 | 14 |
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