Rahul Dravid has been voted the greatest Indian Test batsman of the past 50 years, according to a poll conducted by Wisden India on Facebook. 'The Wall' beat his former teammate Sachin Tendulkar by a narrow margin in the final round of voting.
Dravid secured 52 per cent of the votes, with as many as 11,400 fans taking part in the final round of voting. “Much like Dravid batted during his playing career, he dug in and fought back in the poll, eventually crossing the line with a decent lead at the very end,” said the Wisden India report.
The poll featured 16 Indian batting greats in the initial stage. Sunil Gavaskar and Virat Kohli also made it to the ‘semifinals’. Gavaskar edged out Kohli to end up third.
Dravid amassed 13,288 runs from 164 Tests at an average of 52.31.
The 47-year-old is the fourth highest run-getter in the longer version of the game behind Tendulkar (15,921), Australian Ricky Ponting (13,378) and South African great Jacques Kallis (13,289).