Stranger Legend Martyr

“Come on you target for faraway laughter

Come on you Stranger, you Legend, you Martyr and Shine…”

- Roger Waters (Shine On You Crazy Diamond, 1974)

Sport has a curious way of making numbers part of common parlance. 99.94, the number 10 jersey, 14 Grand Slams – no follower of cricket, football or tennis needs to be told what these numbers mean.

There are, however, some numbers that do not quite stamp themselves in public memory in the same way, and yet are no less significant.

Consider, for instance a breakdown of the Indian cricket team’s fortunes in test cricket abroad:

From June 25 1932 (India’s first test match) to December 31^st 1999, India played 155 test matches away from home. A miserable 13 of those matches were won, 69 were lost and 73 were drawn.

The corresponding figures from January 1^st 2000 till October 23^rd 2008 are – played 53, won 18, lost 19 and drew 16.

In other words, India has won more matches abroad in this decade, than it had in close to 70 years of playing test match cricket.

A closer examination reveals that of those 18 wins, 3 were against Zimbabwe and 4 against Bangladesh. Of the 3 wins against Zimbabwe, 2 were achieved in 2005, when Zimbabwe was a travesty of a side. However, one victory was in 2001, against a side that was better than decent and included the Flower brothers, Heath Streak and Henry Olonga among others.

Thus, for meaningful analysis, the wins against Bangladesh and the two wins against the Zimbabwean side of 2005 could be discounted.

Even so, the numbers remain heavily skewed with 68 years of test cricket producing 13 wins, versus the last nine years producing 12.

An analysis of those 12 wins, throws up the following statistics for India’s batting stalwarts:

	Matches	Innings	Not Outs	Runs	Average	100s	50s
Rahul Dravid	12	20	2	1338	74.33	3	6
Sourav Ganguly	10	17	4	622	47.85	1	5
VVS Laxman	11	18	1	842	49.53	1	6
Virender Sehwag	8	13	1	775	64.58	2	1
Sachin Tendulkar	10	17	2	923	61.53	3	3

The stats clearly show that all of the batsmen have punched above their weight (i.e. their career averages) and played a significant role in taking India to victories. But one name stands out among all these. It’s always been acknowledged that Rahul Dravid has been the principal architect of Indian victories abroad, but looking at the figures still leaves a sense of awe for the near-Bradmanesque way he has accumulated a mountain of runs. Bear in mind too that these figures include 3 test matches played in 2007-08 – a period when Dravid has struggled more often than not. Without taking these 3 tests into account, Dravid’s average is a staggering 88.30.

From the peaks of the 2001-06 years to the troughs he finds himself in now, harking right back to the days when he made his debut and struggled to establish his limited overs credentials, Dravid’s career has spanned three distinct phases: Stranger, Legend, Martyr.

Stranger

There was an outcry in the Indian media following Dravid’s non-selection for the World Cup in 1996, but that was soon rectified when he was picked for the very next series. His picking ought to have heralded the coming of a batsman whose bat was the broadest in the business after Sachin Tendulkar – instead what was seen initially was a stranger who looked uncomfortable on the international scene.

A forgettable debut series in Singapore was followed by an equally lacklustre outing in Sharjah, and for a while it seemed as if Dravid was destined to join the long list of domestic wonders who never made it big on the international stage. His test debut changed that though, and finally his class shone through. In an ironic twist though – one that was to follow Dravid throughout his international career – a potentially headline-grabbing effort was put in the shade by something even more spectacular, namely Sourav Ganguly’s century on debut.

What his test match performance did do though, was give Dravid a longer lease of life in international cricket. What followed was a strange dichotomy between Dravid the batsman in test matches and Dravid the struggler in one day internationals. The test match performances continued to be solid though not yet spectacular, while the limited overs performances were mostly a series of innings where Dravid came, was unable to get the ball off the square or in the gaps, and departed. Not surprisingly he was dropped from the one-day side; but characteristic of the functioning of the BCCI, nobody took him aside and explained to him exactly what he needed to do. Nobody cared that a potentially world-beating batsman was being lost to the side in one form of the game. Rahul Dravid would have to fight his way back into the team, and he would have to do it alone.

Legend

A look at Dravid’s figures, when broken into three phases, make for revealing reading. From his debut in 1996 till the end of 1998 his figures were:

	Matches	Innings	Not Outs	Runs	Average	Strike Rate	100s	50s	Highest Score
Tests	24	39	3	1833	50.91	37.25	2	15	148
One- Dayers	65	58	4	1709	31.64	63.48	1	12	107

This brings out the dichotomy talked about earlier in stark relief. While the test match performance is truly top-drawer, the limited overs numbers are very ordinary, and the strike-rate (which was the primary thing held against Dravid) is very much below average. Look at it this way: the strike rate Dravid was scoring at was equivalent to a run-rate of 3.81 runs per over – far below international standards in the nineties.

And then the New Zealand tour happened in late 1998. And this tour was the start of the making of the batsman who would go down into Indian cricketing folklore. It was the start of a phase of batting during which Dravid would become truly legendary. His stats from the start of the year 1999 till the end of 2006 are:

	Matches	Innings	Not Outs	Runs	Average	Strike Rate	100s	50s	Highest Score
Tests	82	141	19	7265	59.54	43.65	21	31	270
One- Dayers	237	223	31	8053	41.94	72.11	11	61	153

They are breath-taking those numbers. A test match average of almost 60 sustained over 82 tests and 8 years. A one day international average of almost 42 at a strike rate that is better than average for someone who played the role of a sheet anchor.

Just to put Dravid’s remarkable one-day evolution in perspective, Sourav Ganguly – an acknowledged great in the one day game – average 40.82 over the same period. Jacques Kallis, who played a similar role for South Africa that Dravid did for India, had a strike rate of 70.60 for the same period.

Remarkable as they are, these numbers don’t do full justice to the rock that Dravid had become for the Indian batting. Ever since their extraordinary debuts – Ganguly and Dravid had been hailed as the saviors who would finally remove the ‘one man army’ tag that the Indian team carried. Ganguly did it in the one day game, and occasionally in test matches. Dravid did it very efficiently in one dayers, and spectacularly in test matches.

At his peak, it would be fair to say that Dravid’s wicket was more prized for the opposition than that of Sachin Tendulkar. When push came to shove, when crunch situations came, when team India needed one man to show the way, it was Dravid that the nation collectively turned to.

It seems almost heretical to say this, but at the end of 2006, it didn’t seem surprising or wrong that Dravid’s career test match average stood at 57.58, while Tendulkar’s was 54.87.

There was such splendor in the man’s batting during his golden years. When he batted, it was the visual equivalent of listening to the soundtrack of the last fifteen minutes of The Last of the Mohicans – there was the same sense of sweeping grandeur and inspiration, the feeling that we who saw him, were on the cusp of watching greatness unfold.

Those who have seen the music come to life, and seen Dravid bat at Headingly, at Adelaide, at Sabina Park, at the Eden Gardens will understand.

That he has been one of India’s top 3 batsmen is undisputed. That he has been the best match-winning batsman India has produced should also be acknowledged without hesitation.

In the holy trinity of Indian batting Gavaskar has been the best match-saving batsman, Tendulkar the best match-setting batsman, and Dravid the best match-winning one.

Martyr

By a curious coincidence, the series that marked Ganguly’s second coming, was also the start of a form slump for Dravid, from which he has not yet emerged. The series in question was against South Africa towards the end of 2006.

From the end of 2006, till date, Dravid’s stats have been:

	Matches	Innings	Not Outs	Runs	Average	Strike Rate	100s	50s	Highest Score
Tests	23	43	4	1268	32.51	40.31	2	4	129
One- Days	31	27	5	823	37.40	82.05	0	8	92*

If these numbers seem almost as shockingly low as his previous highs, it is because they are. For no rhyme, reason, logic or rationale, his runs had started drying up. His batting average has fallen faster than the world’s stock markets. The technique that world-class bowlers dreamed of breaching was now floundering against trundlers.

The causes for this are not relevant, simply because there don’t seem to be too many cricketing reasons. The obstacles to overcome are in the mind.

What strains the mind of Rahul Dravid has been under, we may never know. However, they must have been considerable because in September 2007, Dravid resigned as India’s captain.

It was the act of a martyr.

Like all martyrs however, he did not live long enough to tell the tale. He did not live long enough in the one-day squad, and he does not stay long enough in the middle these days.

And yet, a month before renouncing the captaincy, the test match emperor gave a masterclass in the art of one-day batting.

On August 24^th 2007, Rahul Dravid stole the show in an imposing Indian batting performance while scoring 92 of the finest against England. He scored his runs from a mere 63 balls. In a lesson that even the young brigade of India's newest cricketers would do well to imbibe, there were a mere 15 dot balls amongst the 63 he faced. That meant he scored off more than 75% of the balls bowled to him. And not one of the eleven fours or solitary six that he hit were slogs or ugly shots. It was cultured clean-hitting at its finest.

That performance came a mere two months before Dravid lost his place in the one day team. Even after he was dropped from the one day team, he was pounding a Ranji attack for a double hundred. It clearly showed that he did not belong at that level, and yet, in international matches, he has looked out of sorts.

Circumstantial evidence is not always foolproof, but here it is compelling enough to conclude that what Dravid needs to do is conquer the demons in his mind. And he needs to do it fast.

He needs to do it not for his legacy – that is set in stone anyway. He needs to do it not so that he can retire with head held high – he has done enough and more to merit that anyway. He needs to do it not to silence his critics – they who bay for his blood reveal their own ignorance of what he has meant to Indian cricket anyway.

He needs to do it for the Indian cricket fan. For the fan who once despaired of India ever winning even a test match, leave alone a series, abroad. For the fan who once used to change the channel when Sachin got out, but now still watches because he feels safe if the Wall is still standing.

For the fan who feels anguish when he watches Rahul Dravid batting now. Who cannot but help feel for this man, this Atlas who seems unable to shrug off the burdens of his mind. For the fan who cannot reconcile the image of a Dravid who could not put a stroke wrong, to one who cannot put bat to ball without a battle.

These days Dravid makes the long walk back to the pavilion more quickly and oftener than before. Where once the bat was raised, the head is bowed. And yet, there exists the Indian cricket fan who would almost feel like running up to him and saying, “It’s ok… it’s ok. It doesn’t matter. You’re still my hero. No amount of failures will ever take away from what you have achieved.”

For the sake of that fan Rahul, come on, and shine – one last time.