The writing on the Wall
© CricInfo Not since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 has a nationagonised so much over a wall
Anand Vasu12-Feb-2002
© CricInfoNot since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 has a nationagonised so much over a wall. Chances are that an Indian teenagercould not tell you much about the struggles of East and WestGermany; in India, cricket-crazy demigod-worshipping India, thereis only one wall that counts – Rahul “the wall” Dravid.If you are a fan, as more than half the populace (including manyof the fairer sex) of this country is, then the wall is a symbolof reliability, a high left elbow and straight bat. If you are adetractor, as cricket writers sometimes tend to be, the very samething is an euphemism for a dour, deadpan approach and afrustrating inability to beat the field.Either way, India’s recent showing in the limited-overs clashesagainst England have demonstrated the need to have Dravid shoringup the middle order. His return to international cricket after alay-off for shoulder treatment is to be welcomed. “I am feelingmuch stronger now. There is nothing wrong really. I have beenhitting a few balls in the nets and feel good. The side gameagainst Zimbabwe will give me a good chance to get back in thegroove,” Dravid told from Bangalore. “I have played quite a few side gameseven after becoming a regular for India – against Australia andNew Zealand for example – so it is nothing new,” he added.Another factor not particularly new to Dravid is the incessantgriping about his approach to Test and one-day cricket. “It is anold story that goes on and on,” said the man who averages closeto 52 in the longer version of the game and scores almost 38 runsper knock in one-dayers at a strike rate of 68.13. Dissecting thestatistics is a revealing process, and the best ones on Dravidare famous enough. He possesses the highest average for a numberthree batsman since Sir Don Bradman and is one of the fewcricketers to perform better abroad, averaging 53.2 from 27 Testsabroad as against 50.69 in 26 Tests at home.The numbers narrate a fine tale, accurately representing Dravid’ssubstantial contribution to Indian cricket. But how can that everchange the immense frustration, the wave of irritation thatspreads through an Indian fan when, as in Bangalore recentlyagainst England, Dravid scores a painful 3 in 61 balls against anattack that can only humourously be described as menacing?”People have different expectations of their cricketers. Somepeople have very high expectations of me as a batsman, and thereare others who rate me lower and do not expect much of me. Youhave to be satisfied that you are giving the best you can, doingwhat is best for the team, and move on,” said Dravid, explaininghow he dealt with things.For years now, Dravid has been rated as a cricketer who thinksintensely about his game. Whether it is cricket in general, orspecifically his technique as a batsman, Dravid has alwaysappeared to have a plan. “Frankly, I have played for about sixyears at this level and am constantly looking to set standardsfor myself and meet them. I am always looking to improve as aplayer, whether it is in one-day cricket or Test cricket. All thetime, you are playing against people who are professional andgetting better. If you don’t keep improving, you will be leftbehind,” he opined.It all sounds good in theory, but how is a player on tour much ofthe time, playing cricket day in and day out, supposed to put itinto practice? “If you want to become a better player, you reallyneed to concentrate on the process of learning,” explainedDravid. “You have to keep looking at yourself and seeing what youcan do better, what changes you can make to improve. There is nopoint 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 tobe criticism and analysis. From former legends to scribes whohave never played the game, everybody has a right, and indeed abrief, to offer his opinion. “I don’t really go around eitherlooking 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. “Sometimesthere is a lot you can learn from a former cricketer and fromothers. Even if someone has not played the game, he might haveseen something that others missed. If there is sense in whatsomeone is saying, I use it,” said Dravid. “If it is somethingthat is simply critical without making sense, then you just haveto agree to disagree and move on. Everybody gets criticised,whether a debutant or the greatest player in the world. Peoplehave a job to do, and you have to understand that. They will becritical. It is for me to go out, bat and do well.”
© AFPCalm. Collected. Reasonable. Those are the impressions one formsof Dravid by the end of a conversation. It is the chocolate-boyimage that has so permeated the mind-set of the average Indianfan. One remembers a very different man, an angry young Rahul ifyou will, when the most well-behaved of cricketers waved his bataggressively and even brandished his helmet obviously to a certain sectionof the media on reaching his hundred at Kolkata againstAustralia.When you see both facets, you begin to understand the other sideto the adulation, the toothy Pepsi advertisements, and the megabuck contracts. It is not easy being Rahul Dravid. “It is adifficult thing, but that is also the charm of being an Indiancricketer. There is so much on television and in the papers thateveryone has an opinion on things,” accepted Dravidphilosophically. “From former cricketers, who are expertcommentators on television, to the man who runs a sweet shop nearmy house, everyone has a view on the game. But you need that, thegame needs that passion. It is not easy, but you have tolearn to accept it.”Dravid has done just that. If he had not, the wall would havecracked, showed signs of weakness, and begun to crumble under theconstant pressure to be faultlessly correct and breathtakinglysuccessful at the same instant.