Welcome!

  Hi! If you're here then surely you must be a cricket freak - an Indian

  cricket fan to be precise. This page is dedicated to the talented and 

  equally committed Indian cricketer - the one and only Rahul 'The Wall'

  Dravid.

  Dravid hails from the South Indian state of Karnataka. His father

  and uncle played cricket, perhaps that's what aroused his interest in

  the game. He started at the age of 12 and like most Indians his early

  cricketing was in the streets. His school, St. Joseph's had a good

  team and Dravid did well in the junior tournaments to merit selection

  in the State under-15, under-17 and under-19 tournaments. At one time

  he was captain of the Under-19 team and was very successful with the

  bat.

  In 1991 he made his Ranji debut against Maharashtra. Batting at

  number 7, he scored a masterful 82. He got his maiden first class

  hundred in the next game against Bengal (134 at number 6). The next

  year brought more success for Rahul as he scored centuries against

  teams like Goa and Kerala. He got tremendous support from great

  former players like Gundappa Vishwanath, K.K.Tarapore, Roger Binny and

  Brijesh Patel. All this time he did not neglect his studies - he

  studied at St.Joseph's College of Commerce and though he had to

  remain absent from college for long periods of time, he maintained a

  first class record throughout.

  In 1995-96 he broke into the international team for the first time

  and since then he has delivered consistent and solid performances. He

  is admired for his classy and technically correct batting. For a long 

  time he was labelled a Test batsman because of his low strike rate even

  though he showed signs of some explosive batting - we all remember the 

  way he thrashed Alan Donald in a crucial match, driving the fearsome 

  bowler to despair. He has solved the problem of missing out on centuries

  long ago. The New Zealand tour in Dec 1998 - Jan 1999 saw him come into 

  his own and cement his place in the One-Day team. No longer does he plod

  around, wasting hittable balls. His strike rate is comparable with the 

  best and his average has also risen to a decent level. This shows his

  strength of character, since he has come back strongly after being out

  of the team for so long. At World Cup '99 he moved into the realms 

  of greatness with a fantastic performance which saw everybody singing 

  his praises. Today Rahul is an integral part of the Indian team, both 

  in One-Day and Test matches.

  Rahul's abilities are not confined to batting alone. He bowls

  right-arm offbreaks and keeps wickets too, both of which he has done 

  for the country at some time or the other. Infact, at the World Cup

  he did a good job in the absence of Mongia. As a consequence many 

  experts are suggesting that he be groomed as a wicket-keeper batsman.