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NEWS India-South Africa-Sri Lanka Tri Series 2006>Rahul Dravid – Firm on the path of greatness 10th July 2006 23.32 IST By Manish Kumar It is without doubt that Rahul Dravid is not just one of the best batsmen in the world, but also one of the finest cricketers ever produced by India. And India’s first Test series win in the Caribbean in 35 years may well be an indication that Dravid is on the way to become of the best captains ever to lead India as India won the series after getting the drubbing of 4-1 in the ODI series.
But Dravid achieved what Ganguly couldn’t – a Test series win the Caribbean though it came after India lost a Test series in Pakistan and let England draw a Test series at home – the results both Pakistan and England couldn’t achieve when the enigmatic Ganguly led India. But the point to be noted here is that in the 21 Test matches India won under Ganguly's leadership, Dravid played his part in every single one of those wins, scoring at a record average of 102.84 and piling up an astonishing 2571 runs, with nine hundreds - three of them double-centuries - and ten fifties in 32 innings. Dravid contributed nearly 23% of the total runs scored by India those 21 matches, which is almost one run out of every four runs the team scored. This amazing consistency of Dravid was the single most important reason behind India's Test victories under Ganguly. The year 2006 also marks Dravid’s completion of grueling ten years in Test cricket and the Indian captain capped it by becoming only the sixth batsman in the world to cross the 9,000-run mark in Test cricket during the fourth Test against the West Indies. Dravid now has a tally of 9,049 runs from 104 Tests with 23 centuries and five double centuries at an astounding average of 58.75 – which is the best in the world amongst contemporary batsmen. In the list of all-time run getters, Dravid is sixth behind his West Indies counterpart Brian Lara , Australians Allan Border and Stephen Rodger Waugh , and compatriots Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar, all of whom have scored over 10,000 runs. But Dravid is the fastest to reach 9000 runs in Test cricket. In all he took 176 innings, bettering the previous record set by Lara by one innings. Dravid also became the first batsman to aggregate 1,000 runs in this calendar year. He now has 1,040 runs at an average of 80.00 from 10 Tests. The Indian captain has achieved this feat for the second time in his Test career. In 2002, he had amassed 1,357 runs at 59.00 in 16 Tests. Dravid also swept the batting honours in the four-Test series against the West Indies, aggregating 496 runs at a superb average of 82.66. Dravid, who hit one century and four half-centuries from seven innings, was the highest run getter on either side. Dravid is the only player in the world to score a Test century against every Test playing nation on their soil and averages more abroad than at home. Dravid has hit the most double centuries by an Indian – five and uniquely, each of his five double centuries in Tests was a higher score than his previous double century (200, 217, 222, 233, 270). The Indian captain was involved in the highest partnership made away from home for any wicket for India with vice captain Virender Sehwag of 410 runs against Pakistan at Lahore in 2006, which is also the highest partnership between a captain and the vice captain. Dravid is not only a great Test player but also one of the best one-day players in the world – an amazing feat because Dravid’s career began with the reputation of being a defensive batsman who should be confined to Test cricket. Dravid has an enviable record in one-day cricket too with 9528 runs and twelve hundreds with an average of 40.20. Dravid was the top scorer in the 1999 World Cup with 461 runs and was the first batsman to be involved in a 300 run partnership along with Ganguly in the match against Sri Lanka at Taunton. Dravid was involved in the highest partnership in the history of ODI cricket with a 331 run partnership along with Tendulkar against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1999-2000. Dravid is the first Indian to score a hundred in the Caribbean in ODI cricket. Dravid is the best number three batsman to play Test cricket for India – and might even be considered one of the best ever by the time his career is done. Dravid's batting average of 95.46 in the past year has made him the only Indian to be in the Test team of the year. Dravid is surely one of the greatest Indian batsmen of all times along with Gundappa Vishwanath, Gavaskar and Tendulkar. Also View In-Depth Coverage: India-South Africa-Sri Lanka Tri Series 2006 Team Page: India Team Page: Sri Lanka | LIVE CRICKET COVERAGE NEWS ~ Gilchrist has no plans to retire after World Cup ~ Ganguly's new batting approach may cost him sixer record ~ India 'squash the Orange' in World Cup warm-up game ~ Symonds gets a new hairdo for World Cup ~ Dhoni readies himself for stand-up act at World Cup (more in NEWS) FACE-TO-FACE ~ 500-mark a possibility in World Cup: Hayden ~ Minnows add charm to World Cup: Dravid (more in FACE-TO-FACE) COLUMNS ~ Will Sri Lanka replicate 1996 World Cup success? (more in COLUMNS) OFF-THE-FIELD ~ Ganguly again the darling of corporate world ~ Ganguly roped in as brand ambassador of Puma (more in OFF-THE-FIELD) PLAYERS Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble (more PLAYERS) TEAMS India, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, West Indies, Zimbabwe, England, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Kenya, Holland | 
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