Book Mark: Rahul Dravid – Timeless Steel

Book Mark:  Rahul Dravid – Timeless Steel

Before even opening the book, my first impression is Rahul Dravid himself is a book. A career of the greatest ambassador of modern day cricket spanned with glorious, yet disciplined chapters! 

A collaborative effort of Disney and ESPNcricinfo,     "Rahul Dravid - Timeless Steel" is a noble collection of write-ups of what great stalwarts and writers like Greg Chappel, Sanjay Bangar, John Wright, Rahul Bhattacharya ..... think about ‘THE WALL’ and what the Indian maestro thinks about the game.  Articles, interviews, pictures... You can pick up any story, not to insist on continuity and read at will.  While some of the articles you might have already read, it is nevertheless  a satisfying page-turner  without much technical stuff and the  compiled hard-cover takes you through a pleasurable journey.

Suresh Menon in his  "The Talent Myth",  comprehensively convinced the reader when he countered Sanjay Manjrekhar's subtle doubts about Dravid's "talents".   Sanjay : "...you don't need to have great talent to become a sportsman is reinforced by Dravid's achievement".

Retorting to this as one of sport's big misconception, Menon went on:

"Fifteen years at the top level without talent? Over 10,000 runs each in two forms of the game without talent? Three test centuries at 39 in England without talent?...........  It was all about anticipation and positioning  rather than flamboyance and showmanship.  It is called talent."  I don't remember, any time later, Sanjay made any comment on talent, least of all Dravid!

Rahul Dravid, the first Indian to be invited to deliver the "Bradman Oration" (a classic inclusion of the book), harmonised multiple aspects of human existence without losing sight of his core competency - cricket.

The book goes on to show the respect and admiration he commands from one and all. With interviews of former India coaches, his childhood friends, teammates, noted sports journalists  - the title offers great perceptions into the personality.  The book gives plenty of hidden insights that makes him a complete human being, professional and personal.  A genuine embodiment of the best traditions and values of the game!

While the 256-page collection of 30 write-ups is a tribute to one of world cricket’s top legend, it is very much a book on the Indian maestro that brings out the  stories of struggles and sacrifices, relives the great victories and defeats, bidding to showcase the sincerity of Mr. Dependable.

Well, is the penmanship incomplete without an eminent literary prose of Harhsa Bhogle? Just a thought!

A few sparkles from the text:

"Sachin Tendulkar was India's batsman of the '90s; Rahul Dravid made the 2000s his own". 

"There is a normalcy about him that is almost abnormal". (Sambit Bal, Editor, ESPNcricinfo)

"Watching him bat was like watching the movement of an old-fashioned clock: the pendulum working, gears and levers moving in perfect, elaborate accord to strike the hour when it is due and not a second earlier". (Mukul Kesavan, A writer based in New Delhi)

"In the trinity of Indian batsmanship - Sunil Gavaskar, Dravid and Tendulkar - each had a defined (and defining) role. They were the Creator, Preserver and the Destroyer respectively.  Dravid was as tough and as professional as they come, yet with a moral centre that was uncompromising". (Suresh Menon, Editor, Wisden Cricketers' Almanac)

"Dravid's basic talent can be found in many, but what has made of it is the rare, almost unbelievable, Dravid story". (Sanjay Manjarekar, Former India batsman)

"In cricket, as in life, it is not the most talented who  survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones who are most responsive to change. Dravid's career was an eternal quest to get better". (Akash Chopra, Former India opener).

"I always treat nets as a match. I really hate getting out in the nets. I create the sort of intensity that I would need in a match. Driving and edging in the nets is not okay with me". (Dravid in an interview).

"One word has attached itself to Dravid wherever he has gone; gentleman.  He is a man of substance, morally serious and intellectually curious". (Ed Smith, Former England player, and shared dressing room with Dravid in the English county)

"Had he (Dravid) been given the same whole-hearted support in the role he had given others, I think the history of Indian cricket may have been very different and he could have gone to become the most successful Indian captain ever". (Greg Chappel).

 “Dravid could play attacking cricket like me, but I could never play like him”. (Chris Gayle)

"He does not have an ego and can easily concentrate on the next ball after he has been beaten by one". (Sanjay Bangar, Former India Player).

"It was difficult at times for me to  decide who was better: Rahul Dravid the human being or Rahul Dravid the cricketer". (Fazal Khaleel, former Karnataka player)

"The caricature often made of Indian cricket and its cricketers in the rest of the world is that we are pampered superstars - overpaid, underworked, treated like a cross between royalty and rock stars.......

"Disrespecting fans is disrespecting the game".  (Dravid in the Bradman Oration).

If you are a cricket lover, straight away start reading!

If you are a Dravid  fan, buy, read and treasure!!

http://kmurthy608.blogspot.in/2014/05/cricket-where-is-gentleman.html
http://kmurthy608.blogspot.in/2012/08/catches-win-matches-yet-fielder-is.html
http://kmurthy608.blogspot.in/2012/06/open-letter-to-sachin-tendulkar.html