Why Dravid Deserves The ‘Greatest' Tag?

The Wall’s presence always gave the impression that he was the complete team man. Yes, Gavaskar and Tendulkar also...

- Renin Wilben

In a recent poll by Wisden India, Rahul Dravid beat Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar and Virat Kohli to be voted as the greatest Indian Test batsman of the last 50 years. All the four Indian legends have amazing records in the longer version of the game, with each of them averaging over 50. And, it must have been a really tough job to pick between the four. But, we are glad Dravid won the contest this time, for he has constantly lived in the shadows of his more illustrious teammates. It was recognition long overdue.

COMPLETE TEAM MAN

One of the greatest assets of Dravid the Test batsman was that he could do anything for the team. While he batted at his customary number three position for the majority of his career, he did not shy away from opening the innings whenever the situation demanded. One must also remember that Dravid started his career batting lower down the order, and shifted back to number six temporarily when VVS Laxman was thought to be the better choice at one down for a brief period. Even when sacrificing his regular batting position, Dravid did not let his guard down, typified with the fighting 180 against the Aussies in a once-in-a-lifetime partnership with Laxman at Eden Gardens in 2001.