Rahul Dravid

An epitome of grit and patience, Rahul Dravid is a former batter, who represented India from 1996 to 2012.

Dravid was born on January 11, 1973, in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, but his family moved to Bangalore, wherein he was raised. He took up cricket at the age of twelve and went on to represent Karnataka in the U-15, U-17, and U-19 levels. 

It was a dream Ranji debut for Dravid, who scored 82 runs for Karnataka against Maharashtra in 1991. 

Fast forward five years, and Dravid made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in Singapore. A few months later, the stylish batter shone bright with a terrific knock of 95 against England at Lord’s. 

Dravid finally translated his starts to a first red-ball century in January 1997 against South Africa. In the same year, Dravid registered his maiden ODI century against Pakistan. Since then, there was no looking back for him, as he continued his glorious run for India. 

The 1999 World Cup proved to be special for Dravid. He stitched a 237-run stand with Sachin Tendulkar against Kenya and followed it up by a record 318-run partnership with Sourav Ganguly against Sri Lanka. He was India’s top scorer with 461 runs in eight appearances, with a top score of 145. 

Dravid was chosen as the deputy to Ganguly in May 2000, after Tendulkar resigned from the top role. On quite a few occasions, the charismatic batter captained the national team. 

The Wall stitched a famous 376-run partnership with VVS Laxman in March 2001 at Eden Gardens helping the Men in Blue to clinch the fixture, as they went on to secure a series victory as well. 

From 2002 to 2006, Jammy was unparalleled in terms of form, as he emerged as India’s best batter across both formats. 

Dravid was appointed as the India captain for the 2007 WC, which proved to be an unsuccessful campaign, leading him to resign from the post. The 50-year-old led the unit in 79 ODIs and 25 Tests. 

Mr. Dependable played for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League. His only T20I appearance came against England at Manchester in 2011, wherein he hit 31 off 21, whacking three consecutive sixes.

Dravid’s last international outing came in a Test fixture against Australia in January 2012. He amassed 13,288 runs in 164 Tests with 36 tons, while finishing with 10,889 runs in 344 ODIs with 12 centuries.

Since November 2021, Dravid has been the head coach of the Indian team. 

(As of February 2023)