It's over.. It's all over..

We are trying not to be emotional. And we are trying hard. Like a moronic teenage girl whose proposal has been rejected by Justin Beiber, we are heartbroken. We hope this will not be an emotional blog. But we cannot be sure. A major reason we watched test cricket, the only reason rather, has decided to stop playing. How can we be not emotional? Sure. After the performance by team India in last two series' it should be good thing to not watch them anymore. But even amidst that failure, we had one ray of hope. Although he did not play as well as we expected him to, we had never lost hope. We always trusted him. Now if he is hanging up his boots, we do not see any point in watching the matches. 

It's strange how a person whom you have never met gives you so much confidence. It was not going to affect the day to day life. But still just seeing a name, R Dravid, in the live scoreboard gave us so much confidence. We have told this before and will tell you again. For us, Rahul Dravid is the greatest Indian test batsman. The second greatest of our time. We still maintain that a BC Lara is still the best we saw. But we never could see ourselves emotionally attached to Lara. This fellow Rahul was unlike other cricketers. Nobody we saw was quite so modest noble or so much of a gentleman, barring Anil Kumble. Always neatly dressed, shirt always tucked in, hair neatly parted in old school boy style, he was a gentleman. He never lost his cool or argued with opposition or umpires. He rarely showed his aggression.

He was not the greatest of natural talents. Nor was he adventurous. He was not a gifted stroke maker like the rest of the fab four. But that does not mean he did not have style. Above all, he had one thing that rest did not. He had the concentration, will and tenacity to grind down any and all kind of bowlers. As we said, look at scoreboard and we were comforted by the fact that he will be there to save the day.  Ball after ball, over after over, test match after test match. Rahul Dravid was there. When his team mates faltered and fell like nine pins, he was there with his forward defense or a leave. We have seen quite a few matches but never have we seen a leave as elegant as Rahul’s.

He has played many a brilliant innings’. He has saved many a matches. He built many a partnerships with fellow legends. He caught many a good catches (sure his fielding dipped down for last couple of years), but one thing people rarely talk about is his captaincy. Sure he led us during the debacle of 2007 World Cup. Does that mean he was not a good leader? World Cup failures were never a new thing for Indians anyway. He led us to away series victories in WI, England. He led the team in second part of the 16 consecutive chases in ODIs. He played quite a few captain’s knocks to save the team from trouble.  He is the third best captain India has when you consider players who led the team for 20 or more matches. Behind his two who captained him, Ganguly and Dhoni. And who doesn’t acknowledge the role he has played in wins by those two captains?

He has been a better batsman away than at home. All his MOS awards have come away. Most of his MOM’s have come away. He has scored centuries against and in every test country. He has good stats everywhere, except for Australia and SA. His average is below 40 with one century each in those two countries. We are a bit disappointed but we will forgive him because those two were fighting 148 in Jo’burg in 96-97 and marvelous 233 in Adelaide.  But we still maintain his best was twin fifties in Jamaica 2006. That is what epitomizes Rahul. Grit, determination and helplessly watching the rest of the team fall apart. He has had his failures. But as he himself said, he has never stopped trying. You never did Rahul. That’s why we love you so much.

For someone who has played a second fiddle all his life, Rahul leaves a great record behind him. Yes. Even in ODIs for which he was initially considered unsuitable. He faced more brickbats than bouquets. But he never gave up. He was a team player who could, without hesitation, take up any role the team wanted him to. We read in one of the comments in King cricket that he was given the wicket keepers role or of number six in ODIs because he could not be kept in the team otherwise. We remembering laughing so hard tears rolled down our cheeks. Being ignorant is one thing but being Poonam Pandey on holi levels is extraordinary.

Team India will miss him. We are very sure. When openers are unfit or struggling, when the wicket keeper captains wants to have a bowl, when the team needs someone to stay put and guide the other batsmen on the field, or simply when the opener (Sehwag usually) gets out cheaply and we need someone to anchor.. We will not have the best one down batsman anymore..

You know what we can’t write any more. We will end this. We are getting senti.. 

Sure Rahul, as you said, we might be attending a press conference in 16 years’ time to see off a player who has done more than you ( we hope it's Pujara) but the fact remains. Any player. Even him. Nobody will be like you. Nobody can be you. You have been a treasure cove of memories. We will cherish and keep going back for more. Always.

It was our pleasure and honour to watch you play the game. Rahul Sharad Dravid we fare thee well. You were a gentleman and taught us the joy of watching test cricket. Thank you for being a part of our life.