The Wall

17-11-2020 Favourite Sportsperson:

   A handsome young man was once sitting in a dressing room, waiting for an event he had to take part in. In walked a beautiful young woman with cameramen trailing behind her and begged him for an interview. The ever-gracious young man agreed, the cameras started rolling and the interview began. The girl asked him about his life, his career as a sportsman, and what did being famous mean to him. The young man answered in his typical humble style. About ten minutes later, the girl asked the cameramen to leave the room for a few minutes.

   Seeing that he was alone with the girl, the young man got up from where he was sitting next to the girl for the interview and sat a respectable distance away. She began to tell him that she was his fan and had gone so far as to go to the college where he had studied and sat on the same bench he used to, just to feel close to him. And before the young man could react, the girl in all earnestness asked him, “Will you marry me ?”. The young man was appalled and immediately tried to leave the room, but the girl called in her father who was waiting just outside the door.

   The father came in and started speaking on behalf of the girl and begged the young man to marry her. The young man was struggling with the situation but still tried to contain it. He asks how old the girl was and on being told that she was just 20 years old, counseled the father that he needed to tell her to concentrate on her studies and not waste her time on frivolous things.

   The girl and her father were adamant and did not allow him to leave the room, even though they could sense his discomfort. After a few minutes, as the young man was desperately trying to extricate himself from their clutches, the door opened, and in walked Cyrus Broacha, the host of the infamous TV show, MTV Bakra. The young man has been taken for a ride as a prank for the TV show, but what shone through it all was the young man’s integrity and humbleness in a situation that could have rapidly gone downhill. This young man was none other than the Wall of Indian Cricket, Rahul Dravid.

Rahul Dravid has many accolades to his name, but he earned the title of “The Wall” for being an adaptable player and facing numerous deliveries throughout the long cricket test series. The bowlers of his time were all in awe of him and Shane Warne, one of the best leg spinners of Australian Cricket, once said this about Rahul Dravid. “ Rahul Dravid being known as 'The Wall' is pretty much spot on. 'The fortress' could also describe Rahul. Because once Dravid was set, you needed the bowling equivalent of a dozen cannon firing all at once to blast him down."

There are a couple of other incidents in recent years which made Rahul Dravid a true gentleman in a “Gentleman’s Game”. In 2018, the Indian Under-19 team coached by Rahul Dravid won the ICC Cricket World Cup. As a token of appreciation, Dravid was awarded a large sum of money for his efforts. Dravid did not accept it and instead insisted that his effort was similar to all the other staff who had helped the team win and they all had to be awarded the same amount of money. To the team’s delight, BCCI( Board of Cricket Control in India) accepted his conditions and raised the amount paid out to all the staff, substantially reducing Dravid’s own earnings.

Rahul Dravid, who hailed from Karnataka was offered an Honorary Doctorate from a reputed university in Karnataka. Dravid graciously refused it saying that his mother and wife had worked for several years to earn degrees in their respective fields and so he felt the need to earn his degree rather than accept one honorarily bestowed upon him. 

Hence, Rahul Dravid is a Wall not only when facing his opponents, but also off the field as he stands firm for the morals and ethics that he believes in. He was the first non-Australian cricketer to be called to speak at the Sir Donald Bradman Oration held in Australia. He quoted the following words once said by Sir Don Bradman, “The finest of athletes had, along with skill, a few more essential qualities: to conduct their life with dignity, with integrity, with courage and modesty. All these are totally compatible with pride, ambition, determination, and competitiveness. “ Rahul Dravid has epitomized all these qualities throughout his cricketing career and to this day. When we are faced with legends such as these, it becomes impossible to write fanfiction for them, when in real life they portray qualities far above what we could think of for a fictional hero. Having said, I will always remain a fan of “The Wall”, Rahul Dravid.