The dust has settled after the curtains came down on the 13th edition of the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup at the gigantic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The capacity crowd that had come prepared to celebrate an Indian triumph was forced to leave the stadium in a state of despondency as Australia emerged winners, defeating the hosts by a convincing margin of six wickets with seven overs to spare. The whole nation went into a grief mode as the hopes that India would regain glory after a gap of 12 years came crashing down. It was indeed the ultimate anticlimax, scripted by the most villainous of scriptwriters.
In the aftermath of the defeat, debates sprang up across the country as to what went wrong for a side that had decimated all opponents, including Australia, by huge margins, in the run up to the final. Many theories were offered ranging from factors involving the game such as selection of the wrong pitch, ultra cautious approach of the batsmen during the middle overs and defensive outlook while bowling to extra terrestrial ones involving position of stars and bad omens, which cast a dark spell on the team. All of these explanations ignored the simple fact that cricket is a game, where only one side can win and Australia was the better team on that day. They bowled to a well chalked out plan, fielded like tigers, caught everything that came their way and batted with purpose and discipline. Despite their superb run till the last game, India fumbled at the crucial juncture and could not match their opponents when it came to crossing the finishing line.
One of the more poignant pictures that appeared in the media in the aftermath of the defeat was the one showing Prime Minister Modi consoling the disappointed Indian team. The players were understandably distraught and some of them were in tears. They had performed with finesse and aplomb all through the tournament and were looking forward to winning the final, which would have been perfect finish, the crowning glory of their career. The loss in the final will rankle them for a long time; this may persist as a never ending ache in the hearts of some, especially those who will not get another chance to don the national colours in the final of another World Cup. They had put their heart and soul into their efforts, made winning the trophy as their mission and made tremendous sacrifices in their attempt to achieve this goal. But as coach Rahul Dravid put it so succinctly, they will have to learn from this, reflect on this and move on. “You have some highs in sports, you have some lows too; and you keep moving on, you don’t stop”, these words by the coach not only summed up his feelings but would also remain as an advice that players and athletes could follow in their careers.
No one could have appreciated better than Dravid the emotions that ran high in the dressing room in the minutes following the close of the match. He had played in three World Cups, including one final, was the highest run-getter in one edition and captain in another. As skipper, he had to face the ignominy of the team getting bundled out of the championship without reaching the knockout stage. He made the sacrifice of taking upon himself the task of keeping wickets during the 2003 World Cup to lend better balance to the side. But he was out in the cold and not part of the squad when they were crowned as winners in 2011. This World Cup presented an opportunity to be part of a title-winning team; hence he too would have felt the sharp pangs of disappointment in an equal measure.
Soon after the final came the news that Dravid was not keen on continuing as coach of the national side. His two-year term came to an end in early November and reports in media indicated that he was not interested in getting an extension and had informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) accordingly. This makes cricketing sense too as the next incumbent will get time to settle down in his job and mould a side that can wage the battles in the years ahead. Unconfirmed reports suggest that V V S Laxman, Dravid’s ally in the middle during some of the most memorable partnerships during the first decade of the present century, is the frontrunner to take over the post. There are bound to be changes in the national squad as well since many players are getting on in years and may not be around for the next World Cup.
Irrespective of whether he decides to continue as coach or steps aside to give way to another distinguished cricketer, this is the apt time to assess and acknowledge the contribution that Dravid has made to Indian cricket. As a batsman, he remains one the greatest of all time as seen from his tally of 24,208 runs in international cricket, which places him at the seventh position in the list of highest run-getters in history. Twenty one out of his 36 Test hundreds came at venues outside India, which fact underlines the technical perfection he attained with the willow, which helped him to adapt his game effectively to different conditions. He scored hundreds against all the then Test playing nations in their home turf, battled with the best of bowlers, batted with serene calm on the most difficult pitches and invariably emerged with flying colours. He also holds the unique record of spending 44,152 minutes at the crease, which is the longest spent by a batsman in Test cricket. He was the “Mr Dependable” of Indian team, always at hand to pull the side out in a crisis. But unfortunately, in a batting line-up that featured the great Sachin Tendulkar, the charismatic Sourav Ganguly, the stylish Laxman and the explosive Virender Sehwag, Dravid’s exploits with the bat, while always appreciated, were seldom celebrated.
Though he was branded in his initial days as Test match player, he brought his commendable intellect to the fore and made adjustments to his technique that helped him became a successful batsman in limited overs game as well. He could rotate the strike well and was, before the emergence of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the first choice finisher for the national side. But since the limelight was always on Tendulkar, Ganguly, Yuvraj etc, the contributions made by Dravid did not win the attention they merited.
As captain, Dravid led India to victory in a Test series in the West Indies in 2006, which was the first such occasion after Ajit Wadekar and his squad made history in 1971. He was at the helm when India won the series against England in 2007, which has not been repeated during the 16 years since, despite four tours to the Old Blighty. India won 17 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) on the trot under him during 2005-06 but, sadly, his captaincy is largely remembered for the tragic World Cup campaign of 2007, where India crashed out in the league stage itself.
Dravid was an outstanding fielder too, the 210 catches in Tests and the 196 in ODIs stand as testament to his undoubted prowess in this area. He was the picture of absolute concentration while standing in the slip cordon and rarely missed a catch. Here too, his abilities were taken for granted and he did not get the recognition he deserved.
In addition to these skillsets as player, Dravid has always been a perfect brand ambassador of the game. He is a gentlemen in the true sense of the word as his actions and words are measured and calibrated to ensure that they do not cause any pain to others. His powerful intellect, acute sense of history and skills at articulating his thoughts cogently were in full evidence during the Don Bradman oration that he delivered in Sydney in 2011. This speech was so well crafted and delivered that most of the national newspapers in India and Australia carried its text in full.
It is a well known fact that Dravid was not too enthusiastic about becoming the coach of the national side. After his active playing days were over, he chose to work with the junior players to help them get over the lacunae in technique and temperament, besides mentoring them. He was a highly successful coach of the national junior side, where his wards used to worship on the ground he walked on. It was at the insistence of his friend Ganguly, then president of the BCCI, that he took up the post of coach of the senior side. However, there was no looking back once he took over. He got on famously with skipper Rohit Sharma, helped Virat Kohli come out of a bad patch and boldly experimented with various combinations in the year prior to the World Cup. The results were there for all to see during the championship as India enjoyed a hitherto unprecedented dream run. A victory in the final would have been the icing on the cake but unfortunately, here too fate intervened and denied him the glory that he richly deserved.
This brings one to a more fundamental question as to whether nice guys are always condemned to finish second. Though one gets the lingering feeling that he had not always been destiny’s favourite child on the cricket field, it is certain that Dravid, the person, has carved out a niche for himself in the hearts of Indian public by his dignified conduct. He is one who comes closest to the status of a perfect man in international cricket and therein lies the success and significance of Rahul Sharad Dravid.
(The author is a former international cricket umpire and a senior bureaucrat)
