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Those gritty four hours today made me nostalgic of the player who was truly the first and last celebrity I ever got attached to. It wasn't as much as a 6 y/o who would look at the No.3 saving the day, as much as it was the 21 y/o who, on some days, still lives there.
Those gritty four hours today made me nostalgic of the player who was truly the first and last celebrity I ever got attached to. It wasn't as much as a 6 y/o who would look at the No.3 saving the day, as much as it was the 21 y/o who, on some days, still lives there.
It's his birthday today, and unlike most times, I sit speechless. Just like how I imagine myself to be when (if) I meet him.
My sister (in the early 2000s) and I (in the later) documented most of his journey through the only way we could - newspaper cuttings. Here are my favourite few.
In the absence of Ganguly, captained India to its first test victory in Pakistan (back when we could actually tour there).
First to win the ICC's men's player of the year. Won the Test Player of the year as well. (That was my first facebook DP).
I love everything about this - the old notebook, the boundaries, the rust colour, the smell.
Years on, Dravid was pretty underrated in the IPL as well. He had to come out to bat after McCullum's century in the first ever IPL game. Had a solid second season though with Kallis in top order, under Kumble's captaincy. I was a RCB bandwagon fan.
The series in which we became rank 1. Peak Dravid. Scored 170+ in the first test to save us after 32/4. Scored 133 in the second to get out to a runnout after Laxman hit the ball straight at Herath. (Look at that top order in the scorecard).
Thanks to that series, he got a chance in the ODI side again. This was my favourite Dravid photo back then. I remember him getting runnout against Pakistan in CT, after a mix-up with Harbhajan. Not only did that cost us the game, that was pretty much the end of his ODI career.
Probably the worst series to remember as an Indian fan. 4-0 defeat in England, post the WC. 3 centuries for Dravid however, shared the man of the series award. Anderson and co. just couldn't get him out, as the rest just offered catching practice to the slips.
From the day he officially retired from limited overs cricket. I liked to keep entire newspapers from really important days in my life. In hindsight, its a good reminder as to how normal the rest of the world really looked.
Oh, and happy birthday sir. Thank you for everything.
