Dravid in a file image.
Former Indian captain and legendary batsman Rahul Dravid is celebrating his 46th birthday today. Also famous as 'The Wall' for his astounding defence, Dravid was born in Indore in 1973. After his family shifted to Karnataka, his studies and upbringing were done in the Southern state itself. He was selected to play for India while pursuing an MBA from St. Joseph's College.
Interestingly, he has also been a State-level hockey player. However, cricket was the gainer as Dravid debuted for India in 1996 against Sri Lanka in the Singer Cup. In his debut Test at Lord's where Sourav Ganguly was also playing his first Test, Dravid enthralled everyone with an innings of 95 nearly missing out on a hundred.
Dravid also holds the record of hitting Test hundreds against every nation he played. He was known as Mr Reliable for his ability to stand tall in front of daunting attacks, especially overseas, and the way he many a time thwarted opponents thereby pulling his team out of trouble.
In the year 2000, Wisden named him one of the top 5 cricketers of the year while he was also adjudged the ICC Test Cricketer of the year in 2004. In December 2011, he became the first non-Australian to give the Bradman oratory lecture. Dravid is also the recipient of India's civilian awards as in Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan.
In 164 Tests, Rahul scored 13,288 runs at an average of 52.31 including 36 hundreds and 63 fifties. While in 344 ODIs he mounted 10,889 runs at an average of 39.16 including 12 centuries and 83 fifties. He was also considered one of the better fielders in the side especially in the slips as he took a world record 210 catches in that position.
