Rahul Sharad Dravid

Name: Rahul Sharad Dravid

Date of Birth: January 11, 1973

Place of Birth: Indore, Madhya Pradesh



Description:-
Dravid made his international debut in one-dayers against Sri Lankan cricket team in the Singer Cup in the Singers ground in Singapore immediately after the World Cup in March 1996, replacing Vinod Kambli. After scoring just 21 runs in four matches , Dravid was dropped during the Sharjah tournament and did not play again until Sanjay Manjrekar was injured on the tour of England

In the 18 months ending in mid-1998, he played in an away series against the West Indies, home and away series against Sri Lanka and a home series against Australia, he scored consistently, with 964 runs at an average of 56.7. He scored eleven half-centuries but was unable to convert them to triple figures . He scored his second century in late 1998 against Zimbabwe in a one-off Test match, top-scoring in both innings with 148 and 44, but was unable to prevent an Indian defeat . He then became the third Indian batsman after Vijay Hazare and Sunil Gavaskar to score centuries in both innings of a match during the 1999 New Year's Test match against New Zealand with 190 and 103* to force a draw , batting for a total of 653 minutes . He had a moderate subcontinental season in early 1999, scoring 269 runs at 38.42 with one century before scoring 239 at 39.8 including a century against New Zealand in late 1999. This was followed by a poor away series against Australia and another poor home series against South Africa, accumulating just 187 runs at an average of 18.7. He then scored 200*, his first double century, against Zimbabwe in Delhi which along with 70* in the second innings helped India to victory. It was the first time he had passed 50 in 12 months and he followed this with a 162 in the following Test, giving him 432 runs in the two match series at an average of 432 .

With a strong technique, he has been the backbone for the Indian cricket team. Beginning with the reputation of being a defensive batsman who should be confined to Test cricket, he was dropped from ODIs as he was slow in making runs. Of late, however, Rahul Dravid has defied early perceptions to become the mainstay of the Indian batting line-up in ODIs as well as in Tests. His nickname of 'The Wall' in Reebok advertisements has now become a tribute to his consistency. Dravid has scored 23 centuries in Test cricket at an average of 58.75, including 5 double centuries. In one-dayers though he has an average of 40.05, and a strike rate of 70.70. He is one of the few Indians who average more at away matches than at home, averaging over 10 more runs a match abroad than on Indian pitches. As of 9 August, 2006, Dravid's average in overseas Tests stood at 65.28 as against his overall Test average of 58.75, and his average for away ODI stands at 42.03 as against overall ODI average of 40.05. In matches that India has won, Dravid averages 78.72 in Tests and 53.40 in ODIs.