Rahul Dravid Biography

Rahul Dravid, nicknamed as the Wall of Indian cricket, Jammy, and Mr. Dependable, is a former cricketer who represented the Indian national cricket team. Other than being a stylish batsman in the top order of the Indian cricket team, Rahul Dravid has the record of taking the maximum number of catches in test cricket. He retired from all forms of international cricket on March 9, 2012 with an illustrious career which spanned 16 years.

Early life of Rahul Dravid

Rahul Dravid was born on January 11, 1973 to Maharashtrian parents Sharad Dravid and Pushpa Dravid in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. His father was an employee of Kissan and his mother Pushpa was employed as a professor of architecture at Bangalore University. He has a younger brother whose name is Vijay Dravid. During the early days of his student life, Rahul Dravid studied at St. Joseph’s Boys’ High School in Bangalore. He did his graduation in Commerce from St. Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bangalore.

Early Cricketing Career of Rahul Dravid

Rahul began playing cricket when he was just 12 years old. He played for the state of Karnataka at different levels such as under-15, under-17 and under-19 level. A former member of the Indian cricket team, Keki Tarapore identified his batting prowess when he was training budding cricketers at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. When Dravid first played for his school team, he made a hundred. Other than batting for his school team, he also did wicket keeping. Nonetheless, Dravid refrained from wicket keeping when he received tips from Roger Binny, Gundappa Vishwanath, Keki Tarapore, and Brijesh Patel who at different times represented the Indian cricket team.

He first played in the Ranji Trophy against Maharashtra in Pune in February 1991. At that time he was still studying in St. Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bangalore. He had the opportunity to play with Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble who also represented the Indian national cricket team. He made 82 runs in a game which ended in a draw and he played in the number 7 position.

He played his first complete season in 1991-1992. During this period, he made two hundreds and ended up with scoring 380 runs with a commendable average of 63.3. As a result, he was chosen in the Duleep Trophy to play for South Zone.

International Career of Rahul Dravid

Dravid made his international debut against Sri Lanka in a one day series in Singapore in 1996. He made his test debut together with Sourav Ganguly versus England. He played prolifically and there was no looking back for this cricketer. He made his first test century against South Africa in the 1996-1997 tour. He scored his first half century in ODIs against Pakistan when he was playing for Sahara Cup. He is the third batsman of the Indian cricket team to make hundreds in both innings of a test match following Sunil Gavaskar and Vijay Hazare and he achieved the feat against New Zealand. In the 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup, he finished top scorer with 461 runs. He is the only Indian batsman to score two consecutive centuries in this tournament. The 180 runs he scored against Australia in the second test at the Eden Gardens in 2001 is regarded as one of the most memorable innings that he played for India. During 2003-2004, Dravid made three double centuries, against Australia, New Zealand, and Pakistan. He played his last one day international against England in September 2011 and played his last test match against Australia in the 2011-2012 season. However, he will continue to play for the IPL (Indian Premier League) and represent the Rajasthan Royals Team.

Awards and achievements by Rahul Dravid

Given below is a list of the awards and achievements by Rahul Dravid which make him one of the most respected cricketers in India:

He received the Arjuna award in 1998
He received the Ceat Cricketer of the 1999 World Cup in 1999
He was nominated as Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2000 in the year 2000
He received the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy Winner (Honored for ICC Player of the Year) in 2004
He received the Padma Shri Award in 2004
He was nominated as the ICC Test Player of The Year in 2004 and also MTV Youth Icon of the Year in the same year
He was made captain of the Test Team of the International Cricket Council in 2006
He received the NDTV Indian of the Year’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011 with Dev Anand

Fast Facts about Rahul Dravid

Given below are some interesting facts about this gentleman cricketer:

Dravid has the record of playing in 93 successive test matches (five day) for the Indian cricket team
Rahul Dravid is the first batsman to make a hundred against all test playing countries.
Rahul Dravid holds the feat of the maximum number of catches in Test match cricket as a non-wicketkeeper.
Dravid is the first batsman who scored 10,000 runs batting at number 3 position.
Rahul Dravid has the record of not being out without scoring a run for 120 successive one-day innings.
In terms of time, his highest score of 270 runs is the most extensive innings by any Indian cricketer.
Rahul Dravid is the sole second cricketer of non-English origin who scored three or more number of hundreds in two separate test series in England, and the other being the great Australian Donald Bradman.
On November 24, 2011, Dravid became the 2nd international cricketer to score 13,000 runs in test match cricket only following Sachin Tendulkar.
Dravid has been a part of over 80 hundred run partnerships with 18 separate batsmen and has been a part of 19 hundred run partnerships with Sachin Tendulkar which is an unparalleled feat.
Dravid has been dismissed on 55 occasions in test cricket, surpassing Allan Border’s earlier feat of 53.
On December 14, 2011, Rahul Dravid became the first non-Australian player to deliver a speech at the Bradman Lecture in Canberra.

List of International centuries by Rahul Dravid

Given below is a list of the international centuries scored by Rahul Dravid (both test and one day matches):

Test Centuries by Rahul Dravid

148 Versus South Africa at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
118 versus Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club, Harare
190 versus New Zealand at WestpacTrust Park, Hamilton
103 not out versus New Zealand at WestpacTrust Park, Hamilton
107 against Sri Lanka at Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo
144 against New Zealand at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
162 versus Zimbabwe at Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur
200 not out versus Zimbabwe at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
180 versus Australia at Eden Gardens, Kolkata
144 not out versus West Indies at Bourda, Georgetown, Guyana
115 versus England at Trent Bridge, Nottingham
148 versus England at Headingley, Leeds
217 against England at Kennington Oval, London
100 not out against West Indies at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
222 versus New Zealand at Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
233 versus Australia at Adelaide Oval
270 against Pakistan at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium
160 versus Bangladesh at MA Aziz Stadium, Chittagong
110 against Pakistan at Eden Gardens, Kolkata
135 versus Pakistan at Eden Gardens, Kolkata
128 not out against Pakistan at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
103 versus Pakistan at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad
146 versus West Indies at Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St. Lucia
129 against Bangladesh at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
111 versus South Africa at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
136 versus England at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
177 against Sri Lanka at Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
144 against Sri Lanka at Green Park, Kanpur, India
111 not out against Bangladesh at Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium, Mirpur Thana, Dhaka
104 against New Zealand at Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
191 versus New Zealand at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur
112 versus West Indies at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica
103 not out against England at Lords, London
117 against England at Trent Bridge, Nottingham
146 against England at The Oval, London
119 versus West Indies at Eden Gardens, Kolkata

One Day International Centuries by Rahul Dravid

107 against Pakistan at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
123 not out against New Zealand at Owen Delany Park, Taupo
116 against Sri Lanka at Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur
104 not out against Kenya at County Ground, Bristol
145 against Sri Lanka at County Ground, Taunton
103 not out against West Indies at Kallang Ground, Singapore
153 against New Zealand at Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad, Deccan
109 not out against West Indies at Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
104 versus United Arab Emirates at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium
104 against Pakistan at Nehru Stadium, Kochi
103 not out against Sri Lanka at Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
105 against West Indies at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica