End of an era..

When Tendulkar and Ganguly opened the one day innings much to the delight of a billion fans,how many fancied the scrawny no.3 to be their idols??


The answer is shamefully simple.No one.
Everybody loved Ganguly ruling the spinners and dominating the off side.Tendulkar's genius was second to none.But how many matches has this no.3 won for the country?
No one cares.Because he is not flashy.He does not have a strike rate of 150+.He is your test match player.Not suited to the pace of the shorter version of the game.
But now that this no.3 retired,why are the pundits worried about the fragile batting lineup?


Its because that's what the team shall miss now on - the sense of security and calm when this no.3 batsman-probably the best ever is gone.
The man who lived in the shadow of the above named.The man who saw through tough times and tight games.The man who bowled,kept wickets and took some incredible catches.The man known as Rahul Dravid.

His ODI retirement was no surprise considering his age.But then age was never under consideration when a batsman of 35+ is called over and over again to protect a fragile batting lineup.His call ups to the champions trophy and the abysmal England tour can lay proof to that idea.Whenever our opening Gods-Sachin ,Sehwag and Ganguly failed,Dravid stood up and saw through the innings.In fact his calming influence helped them to play with freedom.He held on while it was the yuvrajs and dhonis who took the chances.He was the concrete wall who milked and frustrated the opponent bowling attack.He always was there to save the day.

We talk about the number of centuries from Sachin Sehwag and Ganguly.While Rahul hasn't scored many,his innings should be measured with respect to the circumstances.He rarely faced the new ball,which has more bounce and easier to go after.The number of times he has finished the game is astonishing.The greatest team of the decade-the aussies,hated bowling to him because of his stubborn defense.Very irritating if the batsman you were bowling in the opening session where you dismantled the top order,and yet he is still there with the tail.
His partnerships with another underrated great Laxman have been magical.Its like magic when those two bat.One perfectly suits the others game.The perfect foil.The ying to the yang.

His one day stats do not reveal the hard work he put in every kind of surface.Whether its pace ,bounce ,slow or low ,turning or seaming , no pitch could unravel him.His technique was such he was immune to the malevolent nature of the pitch.Whether its concrete strip in Perth or a coal mine at Kanpur.Critics slammed him for his strike rate.While 'notable' cricket experts like Sanjay Majrekar could rebuke the other batting greats for no getting the job done,Dravid was teflon,his consistency was an incredible riposte.His centuries were rare,due to his batting attributes that marked him a test specialist.But they always came in important situations.Together with the other batting greats,he was one of the pillars of Fabulous five that gave India many priceless moments in the modern age of cricket.He was a batting plinth
- the architecture that defined the greatness of this current team.He was a rare gem and his value was more to the opponents he defied than the fans.