Rahul Dravid Quotes

It is not an exaggeration to say that a whole strand of the game, a rich vein that runs through the game's poetic heart, departs the scene with India's greatest-ever No. 3. Playing T20 cricket won't teach anyone to become the next Rahul Dravid.

Reading allows me to recharge my batteries.

When you knock on the door and the selectors do not open it, then knock harder,' has been his idol Sunil Gavaskar's recurring advice to all youngsters, and Rahul set out to do just that.

He(Rahul Dravid) is the intelligent man's guide to what a sportsman ought to be - modest, dependable, well-educated, with the gift of grace under pressure and a perspective that is adult. He is the comfort for those who know they cannot be Tendulkar

I admire Rahul Dravid for separate reasons. He is more soldier than artist, he bats unhurriedly but with the stubbornness of a priest whose faith is being challenged. He is a self-confessed cricketer of certain limitations, but his overcoming of them, his compensations for them, these victorious battles he has with himself, are astonishing. The signature of his greatness is commitment and a parallel is to be found an ocean away in Australia. Steve Waugh was as clever, he knew how to summon the best in himself. These men were creatures of routine. So am I. ‘Soldiering on’ is our phrase.

So while talent is always acknowledged as a quality essential to winners, words like grit, perseverance and determination are used just as often. Indeed in the foreword to Steve Waugh’s autobiography Out of My Comfort Zone, Rahul Dravid wrote, ‘Waugh gave grit a good name!’ Apart from the fact that it’s a great line, it also provides valuable insight. Flair has always been considered glamorous, but grit has never been fashionable, and certainly not in India.

The other thing I tried out in that Test match for the first time, something that served India well for a decade and a half, was to get Rahul Dravid to bat at number three and Sourav Ganguly at five, which was not an obvious decision at the time.

One person who did that extraordinarily well all his life was Rahul Dravid, who combined work ethic with great ability. He believes it is always better to set challenging goals even if that means occasionally falling slightly short, rather than set simple goals which could lead to dissatisfaction and leave you wondering if they were too easy. Often people are inclined to set rather simple goals for themselves, and in the process they forget that the kind of goals one sets tells the world what kind of person you are. This is perhaps best highlighted in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when Dumbledore tells the young Harry Potter, ‘It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.’ This applies to young students, sales executives, opening batsmen and leaders of giant corporations equally.