Rahul Dravid or The Wall or Jammy or Mr. Dependable

Known as 'the Wall' due to his ability to bat for long, Rahul Dravid has been the batting mainstay of Indian Test Team since he first arrived at the international scene in 1996. Dravid is regarded as one of the most technically sound batsmen of his time. He holds the record of being the only batsman to score a century in all ten Test playing nations. Dravid made his Test debut against England at Lords in June 1996 and scored 95. He is the third batsman to score more than 12,000 runs in Test cricket. Dravid has been involved in more than 80 century partnerships and stitched 19 century partnerships with Sachin Tendulkar - a world record. Dravid was awarded the ICC Player of the Year and the Test Player of the Year in 2004.

India's batting great Rahul Dravid, who bid adieu to international cricket on Friday, holds 30th position in the rating list for the all-time best in the Test cricket. The 39-year-old Karnataka batsman spent a total of 35 Tests and 226 days at the top, with the highest-rating of 892 which he achieved in March 2005, an ICC release stated. Among India batsmen, only Sunil Gavaskar (916) and Sachin Tendulkar (898) have achieved higher career ratings than Dravid. Dravid was also the first recipient of the ICC Test Player of the Year and the ICC Cricketer of the Year (the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy) awards, presented in 2004 in London.

Rahul Dravid was not just a cricketer. He was a true ambassador, who presented himself in the most appropriate manner on and off the cricket field. Never involved in any controversy whatsoever, Dravid ensured cricket firmly retained its tag of 'Gentleman's game'. Cricket fans is seen shaking hands with Indian player Rahul Dravid after his shoot for music channel MTV in Bombay June 23, 2004. Dravid was voted by Indian youth as the MTV Youth Icon of the Year 2004, in a field of nominees comprising of leading Indian personalities from various fields, like films, science, fashion, sports and business.

After 16 years of steadfast service 'The Wall' has finally toppled. Rahul Dravid was one of cricket’s finest batsmen and one of a few Indian players no selector seemed able to drop. But dignity could have been his middle name and sensing he’d begun to overstay his welcome Dravid has retired from international cricket.  For those who love cricket the game, as opposed to cricket the enterprise, he will be missed, for his kind of cricketer, on and off the field, is becoming rarer. A man for whom technique mattered, he knew that batting not based on a sturdy defence was to dabble with chance. Like Glenn Turner before him, he learnt to keep the good balls out before risking glory through boundaries, though those glories did come as 13,288 Test runs and 10,889 one-day international runs attest.

If his deportment at the crease was exemplary and an example to others, so too was the way he engaged off the field. It is easy to lose perspective when one is lauded for simply breathing, as great cricketers in India are, but Dravid, now 39, neither milked nor scoffed at the idolatry. It won him enormous respect wherever he went, not something readily associated with many of today’s sportsmen.

With Sachin Tendulkar in the team, he wasn’t quite the best Indian batsmen of his era but he probably would have been in any other. Unlike Tendulkar or Virender Sehwag, though, he could have come from a time not his own. You only needed to apply a sepia wash to photos of him batting with his cap and neckerchief affixed to be transported back to the age of Vijay Merchant or Lala Armanath. Dravid was timeless but always with glorious timing.

His Test debut was at Lord’s in 1996, his first big game being umpire Dicky Bird’s last. Bird famously wept during the match as Dravid might after being dismissed for 95. His moniker of 'The Wall', one he never encouraged as it suggested his batting lacked elegance, hadn’t been constructed by then but its foundations were surely laid after he’d struck just six fours from the 363 balls he’d faced.

That innings helped to save India’s hide but the best knock I saw him play, also against England, was the 148 he made in the third Test at Headingley in 2002. In the kind conditions that English seam bowlers used to fantasise about - greenish pitch with thick, dark clouds hemming everyone in - he and Tendulkar, who made 193, gave a batting master class when the ball should not have been at their beckoning. Sourav Ganguly also made a century but England’s bowlers were so demoralised by the time he came in to join Tendulkar that it was a formality as India’s eventual victory was too, by an innings and 46 runs.

He was centre stage too in India’s extraordinary win over Steve Waugh’s Australia in 2001 Kolkata Test. His 180, made in concert with VVS Laxman’s double hundred, allowed India, who were in any case following-on, to turn a match that had looked lost completely on its head. The ensuing victory exposed a rare vulnerability in the Aussies and India won the next Test as well to take the series 2-1.

He batted well against England last summer, making three typically determined hundreds as his team were whitewashed from their perch as the world’s No 1 Test side. His batting, based on silky wrists and wondrous powers of concentration, hasn’t been so flash since and while his run of low scores against Australia is not in itself a reason to retire, their manner, after being bowled six times in eight innings, probably was.

As news of his retirement sunk in, Sunil Gavaskar, another great Indian batsman, called him a terrific role model saying that while youngsters look up to Tendulkar in awe, they could actually be Dravid, providing they were prepared to work hard enough.

My own thoughts are that he epitomised perfectly the phrase “Grace under fire,” Ernest Hemingway’s description of courage. Whatever challenge Dravid was presented with, at least on the pitch, he faced it with the kind of unruffled integrity that makes his next choice in life almost as interesting as his last one.

India a new champion of ICC cricket world cup 2011

2^nd April 2011, Saturday is the day when India became a champion of cricket world cup after 1983. This was the 2^nd time when India became a champion o this cup. Everybody is happy and i am also a happy man when Indian skipper hit a ball for six. This was the proud moment for all of Indian people who watched this. I never seen the 1983 world cups win of Kapil Dev. There were always some people who thought that Sri-Lankan is better team than Indian team.

But the things are behind all Indian team was blessings of 121 crore of people from India itself and other are from outside India. The moment when Dhoni lift the cup it was really a proud moment for all India team. But this could be really a best moment for Sachin Tendulakar in his life. And this was the trophy he always wants to lift. If  Sachin could make a hundred in that match that would be really great one from greatest batsman of this game.

Thanks to MSD for giving us so much proudest moment in our life. He always been a cool captain and taken every risk works for great in this game whether it was two toss in final game, whether Sreesanth included in team 11 instead of Ashwin, whether MSD promoted himself ahead of inform batsman Yuvraj Singh. Everything was perfect.

Once again congratulation to Team India and all of Hindustani as well.

India Pakistan semi-final match in ICC World Cup 2011

What a match it was? India and Pakistan never meet in ICC world Cup Semifinal and it was really high sensational match. It was also a one of the biggest high voltage match as well. And what to say to Mr. Manmohan Singh for his cricket diplomacy? This was really a great platform to talk on unresolved issues between India and Pakistan. So much Mr. Manmohan Singh get on this I don’t know, but he has taken this event as opportunity to continue the dialogue between India and Pakistan and he succeeded.

Come to the India-Pakistan clash on ICC world cup semifinal. It was the worst day for Pakistani fielding, because they save the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar on 6 times and Tendulkar make 85 runs for digging the cave for Pakistan. Because after 60 over it was the pitch that support slower bowler at the end.

Once again Yuvraj Singh did a very good job for Dhoni by bowl. If we look and Indian win over Pakistan and Australia, now we can say that this team is look like a world champion and they are really capable to do so and I don’t have hesitation to say that this ICC world cup will be win by Indian Team.

Best of Luck and Good Luck as well for ICC world cup Final at Mumbai.

Tendulkar @50th Test centuries

Congratulation to Master to become the first ever batsman in history of cricket to hit a 5oth test centuries. Time stood still on Sunday as Sachin got to his 50th Test hundred a day after his father’s birth anniversary. This milestone was just a formality waiting to happen. Just a number, as Sachin later agreed. However, the towering nature of this achievement would leave you breathless any day.

Congratulation again!

Murli@800 Test Wicket

Spin genius Muttiah Muralitharan brought down the curtains on his Test career in a blaze of glory by becoming the first cricketer to scalp 800 wickets. All eyes were on Muralitharan as the crowd and his team-mates expected him to reach the 800-wicket mark quickly but the off-spinner could add just one more scalp to take his tally to 799 till the lunch break. Ojha joined the action after Laxman's dismissal and with Ishant he frustrated the hosts for another 15 overs. But ultimately Murli gets the rid of Ojha as last and 800th wicket of his cricketing career.

Muralitharan made his Test debut in 1992 against Australia in Colombo and has since taken 22, 10-wicket hauls. He has taken five wickets in a Test innings on a record 67 occasions. Muralitharan's 18-year career was marred by controversy due to his bent-arm action -- the result of an elbow deformity since birth -- which helped him impart considerable turn and bounce even on the most placid wickets.

The unusual action sparked uproar in the cricket world, especially in Australia where umpires no-balled him for throwing and former Prime Minister John Howard once called him a "chucker". Muralitharan's action first came under the microscope when Australian umpire Darrel Hair called him for throwing during Sri Lanka's tour Down Under in 1995-96. He was called again during a later tour of Australia in 1998-99 but was subsequently cleared after further tests. But the International Cricket Council, which carried out bio-mechanical tests on the bowler, cleared him of a suspect action.

Affectionately known as Murali, the off-spinner is the most successful bowler in history with record hauls in both Test (800) and one-day (515) cricket. There is no-one has to follow him by no. of wickets in test in active cricket. In active cricket the three are near about to Murli you can say are Ntini(SA-390),Harbhajan(IND-355),Vettori(NZ-325). If you will see the number than you can understand how far behind they are from Murli's number of wickets. We were lucky to see the all three great spinner in our era to play Mr. Warne, Mr. Kumble.

One of greatest cricket person has been retired from longer version of cricket, we will miss you on the field Mr Great Spinner in cricketing history. Great Murli-Great cricketer-Great retirement. Best of luck for future.

Asia Cup wins in Dambula

India's pace battery led by Ashish Nehra demolished Sri Lanka to help their team win the Asia Cup with a comfortable 81-run win on Thursday. Dinesh Karthik top-scored with 66 as India made 268-6 after electing to bat in the day-night final, before the defending champions and hosts were shot out for 187. India, who last won the region's premier one-day prize in 1994, denied Sri Lanka a hat-trick of titles following their victories in 2004 and 2008. Nehra claimed four wickets, including two in one over, as Sri Lanka were reduced to 51-5 by the 16th over before being bundled out in the 45th over. India never looked back after hard-hitting opener Tillakaratne Dilshan was dismissed off the fifth delivery, holing out to mid-on off seamer Praveen Kumar. Kumar, who made use of windy conditions to swing the ball, bowled an unchanged opening spell of nine overs in which he conceded just 29 runs. Fellow seamer Zaheer Khan bowled Upul Tharanga, before Nehra wrecked havoc by having Mahela Jayawardene and Angelo Mathews caught behind in the 14th over.

Nehra also removed Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara for 17, but Thilina Kandamby (31) and Chamara Kapugedera (55 not out) delayed the end. Nehra's 4-40 was supported by Zaheer's 2-36 and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja's 2-29. Karthik, who replaced the injured Virender Sehwag, hit nine boundaries to lead India's batting at the Rangiri stadium in Dambulla. Karthik put on 62 for the second wicket with Virat Kohli (28) and 46 for the third with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (38).Rohit Sharma propped up with the middle-order with a fluent 41, before Jadeja boosted the score with an unbeaten 25.

Congrats! Team India..........Thumbs Up for all the men in blue. This win is very valuable in respect of coming world cup will be held in Asian Sub-continent.

Cheer up, India are in semis!

India have gone through to the semifinals of the Women’s World Twenty20 and will face Australia in the last four at the Beausejour Stadium here on Thursday. Meanwhile, New Zealand, last year’s losing finalists, will be up against hosts West Indies in the second semifinal at the same venue on Friday after champions England failed to make the grade. There was also a good news for indian sports in chess that v. Anand again become the world chess champion 4th time after beating russian grandmaster veselin Topalov.

                 Congratulations Anand. There is no doubt remaining now that Anand has been the greatest sportsperson that India has produced. There may have  been world champions in other games but no one has remained at the top  consistently for more than a decade. My mood was down since India were  eliminated in T20 Cricket this morning but now I am once again upbeat.

                        Thanks to Anand's great achievement.

Idea-Cup2010,Dhaka-Bangladesh,India,Sri-Lanka

MS Dhoni lashed out at the reckless shot selection of his batting colleagues and felt the ill-timed injury to paceman Ashish Nehra also dented their chances in the tri-nation final against Sri Lanka here on Wednesday. Put into bat, the Indian batsmen — barring Suresh Raina (106) and Ravindra Jadeja (38) and Virender Sehwag (42) — let the side down with their questionable shot selection and Dhoni did not even try to hide his anger.
“I don’t think the shot selection of our batsmen was great. Thanks to Suresh and Ravindra, we made it a contest but the batsmen should have been more careful,” a disgruntled Dhoni said after the match. “You just cannot go out and go with the momentum of the series. We played this tournament on pitches where scoring wasn’t an issue. But today there was quite bounce in it and we should have been careful which we were not,” added the Indian skipper. His opposite number Kumar Sangakkara, adjudged Man of the Series, said he could not make any complaint. “I always says that we have a number of match-winners in Dilshan, Tharanga and Mahela. We got a good start today and then Mahela finished it brilliantly. Both the opening bowlers (Nuwan Kulasekhara and Chanaka Welegedara) gave us early wickets and even though we could have been tighter in the middle overs, it was a great show in the end,” Sangakkara said. “It was great how the youngsters came to the party and gelled with the seniors. Taken from TOI
My Comment : India were undone by a combination of poor shot selection and Sri Lanka’s disciplined pace bowling, losing wickets at regular intervals. If we see the first five wicket of indian innings, how it fallen, then anybody will say that the era comes again that "Tu chal main aaya." and era of spoon making has been started again. Kohli, Yuvraj,Dhoni,Sehwag had been given a catch wicket behind. Dhoni did not even try to hide his anger and he said above that poor shot selection of his batsman was not good what he will say about himself. Dhoni's selection of eleven was not good because we have seen the matches in recent times : Yuvraj singh is always looks tired. Sehwag is always in hurry.Zaheer is also not doing well. Harbhajan singh is not the person who can lead the spin department at all. We have seen amit mishra has been taken three wickets in last league match against bangladesh and also karthik played good knock in couples of game he played in this tri-series. Tyagi has been also bowled very well in last game but he didn't make in eleven for the spot of Sreshanth. So I think Dhoni should open his eyes and make the eleven quite intellegently not to believe on super-stitious, only believe on good performance if he wants to make his team become a no 1 in one-dayer or make the countable performance in coming world cup. But if we can think that positive comes out from this tri-series was Kohli,R Jadeja,Raina showed himself again that big guns will not always comes in front to make you out of disaster. And one more thing they have proved that they are really a chuck-er when count it big.

India beat Sri Lanka, win Compaq Cup

India beat Sri Lanka, win Compaq Cup making a history to win a try series in Sri-Lanka for first time victory.

Sachin Tendulkar's 44th ODI century and Harbhajan Singh's five-wicket haul scripted India's tri-series triumph as the visitors raised India their game when it mattered most and cruised to a 46-run win in the final match against Sri Lanka on Monday.
Thumped by 139 runs in their Saturday's meeting which cost them world number one ODI team's tag, India first amassed 319 for five and then shot out Sri Lanka for 273 in 46.4 overs to settle score.
Chasing a mammoth 320-run target, Sri Lanka got the perfect start from Tillakaratne Dilshan (42 off 29 balls) and Sanath Jayasuriya (36) before running out of steam. Down the order, the 70-run stand between Thilina Kandamby (66) Chamara Kapugedera (35) was a mere act of defiance and not enough to turn the match on its head.
Harbhajan Singh (5-56) was the wrecker-in-chief even though he missed a hat-trick chance.Earlier, the Indian top order fired in unison and Tendulkar's majestic 133-ball 138 lifted them to a massive 319 for five wickets after Mahendra Singh Dhoni had won an important toss and elected to bat.
Tendulkar raised 95 runs with makeshift opener Rahul Dravid (39) and 110 with next man in Dhoni (56) and then Yuvraj Singh (56) provided the late charge to take the tally past the 300-mark.The target was tough but Sri Lanka looked game for a fight with Dilshan going after Ishant Sharma. Dilshan greeted Ishant with back-to-back fours in his first over and then went on a rampage. Desperate for a breakthrough, Dhoni pressed in service Harbhajan Singh as early as in the eighth over and the offie did not let his skipper down, dealing a double strike that knocked the stuff out of Sri Lanka's chase. Harbhajan castled Dilshan with his fifth delivery and then returned to catch Mahela Jayawardene (1) off his own bowling in his next over.
Encouraged by his success, Dhoni tossed the ball to Yusuf Pathan and the lanky offie claimed Jayasuriya, just when the left-hander had started looking menacing. Two more quick wickets and Sri Lanka had lost their top half for 131 and once Sangakkara fell to a freak dismissal - his bat came loose and fell on the wicket on follow through - the hosts had the writing on the wall. Earlier, 36-year-old Tendulkar seemed to be in imperious form as he notched up his 44th ODI century with a stunning display of strokeplay. With Dinesh Karthik failing in both the matches, India opted for a new opening pair of Tendulkar and Dravid for the summit showdown and the experienced duo clicked together. The two experienced batsmen found runs easy to come by as they took the total to 50 by the end of the 10th over and sought to accelerate the pace of scoring from then on. Dravid got a reprieve when he was on 24 with Tillakaratne Dilshan dropping a fairly simple catch at gully, Thushara being the unlucky bowler. Sangakkara introduced Lasith Malinga in the 13th over and Tendulkar greeted him with a glorious backfoot punch to the fence. Dravid then lifted spinner Ajantha Mendis for a six but the wily Sanath Jayasuriya removed him in the next over. Dhoni promoted himself to the number three slot and got into the act almost immediately with a flurry of strokes. He and Tendulkar kept up the pace of scoring without taking too many risks as they brought about the 100-run partnership to pile up the agony on the hosts. Tendulkar took a single by cutting Mendis to the sweeper cover to notch up his 44th ODI century. The hosts finally broke the partnership when Dhoni mistimed his pull shot and Kandamby took a well-judged catch. A tired Tendulkar, who called in a runner after suffering from cramps, was dismissed at the fag end of the innings, being trapped leg before wicket by Mendis. His sublime knock of 138 came off just 133 balls and was laced with ten boundaries and a six. Down the order, Yuvraj chipped in with an unbeaten 41-ball cameo of 56 that had six fours and a six in it.

India's long wait in New Zealand finally ended

India recorded their first series triumph on New Zealand soil in 41 years though rain denied them a deserving victory in the third Test.
Rain played spoilsport in India's push for a 2-0 series win on the fifth and final day and the hosts escaped with a draw after they were down 281 for eight in the post-lunch session in chase of a near impossible 617 for a win.
The visitors will have to be content with a 1-0 victory in the three-match Test series after India won the first match in Hamilton by 10 wickets and drawing the second in Napier.
Despite the draw, India ended their long wait of 41 years to win a Test series in New Zealand after Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi-led side drubbed the Kiwis 3-1 in 1968.
The Indians, who outplayed the Kiwis throughout the match, were well on course for a victory by conjuring up four wickets in just over a session before light rain stopped play 30 minutes into post lunch session. Daniel Vettori on 15 was at the crease at that time alongwith Iain O'Brien (19).

Congratulation from me to entire team again!

Taken from :  TOI

HEADLINES DATED 1ST JAN 2023..

1. President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Priyanka Gandhi receive Italy Prime Minister Rahul Gandhi.

2. Dhoom 17 ready for release.

3. I will play next world cup - Sachin Tendulkar

4. Salman, Vivek and Abhishek attend Aishwarya's 3rd marriage .

5. Abhi toh Mein jawan hoon - Dev Anand.

6. Petrol Rs.999.95 / liter (Bata price).

7. Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi completed 2,50,000 episodes & Baa has completed 400yrs.

8. Coach Ganguly resigns, as India is knocked out of World Cup in 1st round after losing to Korea

9. Siddhu launches his own TV channal where he can speak and laugh for the whole day.

10. After giving 49 flop movie in a row Himesh reshamiya is coming in Hollywood romantic movie sequel Titanic 3

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Year 2019 - Cricket World Cup news:

India failed to defeat Afghanistan in the world cup qualifier in the Asia -Pacific zone

Coach Sehwag said that he is not worried because he has backing of selectors, captain and board....and that they had won a close match against Papua new guinea just 2 yrs ago

Rahul Dravid,the coach of NewZealand team said that Sachin should now consider retiring gracefully and let his son take over the captaincy

Mahender Singh Dhoni broke Ajit Agarkars record of most no of consecutive ducks in twenty 20

Saurav Ganguly, the coach of England feels that the boys need to control their emotions on the field

The current leading man from Bollywood Bret Lee advices M S Dhoni to take up acting as well

Minnows Pakistan beat Ireland in a close match...and thus they avenged their defeat in the 2007 WC against the then minnows Ireland

Inzamam ul haq, who was the captain of the losing team and now the present coach said in a press interview that
"Boys plays well...they try hard...Inshallah we wins the world cup"

The police arrested 8 people for violence after England and NZ match...
Investigations revealed that these people were members of Dravid and Ganguly fan communities on Orkut which have 623241516 and 126542 members respectively.

The Indian cricket board led by president Rahul Gandhi has called for an emergency meeting to discuss future course of action ..former players like Yuvraj Singh, Md Kaif,vvs Laxman and Kumble have been invited...coach Sehwag and Captain Tendulkar will present a report...

VVS Laxman today created a new controversy by saying that he expected a written apology from Rahul Gandhi for including him in the category of former players....he said that he has improved his fielding and fitness and wants to play 2023 WC in Brazil

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