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As Rahul Dravid bids goodbye to the shorter formats of the game in
international cricket, he leaves behind perhaps the final vestiges of the
legacy of the image of a truly selfless and tireless cricketer for Indian
cricket in the era before the IPL

It would be hard to argue that there is another hard worker quite in the
mould of Rahul Dravid. Someone who has had no hang ups over the many roles
and hats he has had to don in the course of his fifteen years in
international game, Dravid carries his duty to team India on his sleeve. And
in that same inimitable style, Dravid now leaves Twenty20 and fifty overs
format behind.

The irony is that Dravid was considered past his prime as far as Twenty20
was concerned when the Indian team for the ICC World Twenty20 2007 was
picked. His services for India in the limited overs format were considered
expendable which meant that every couple of years when Indian cricket found
itself in a tough spot, Dravid was forced to wear his blue jersey.

The case has been no different on the tour of England, except that Rahul
Dravid converted this opportunity to sign off while the need for his
presence was still felt. At thirty-eight years, few players can dream of a
recall. For Dravid though, he has seen and done it all.

For one, Dravid is now filling in for the no.3 spot in the one day format
that has been considered the inheritance of the young and aspiring. However,
the Indian selectors could not find a more youthful, enterprising young man
and turned to the formidable veteran to best serve lagging Indian interests
in England.

Dravid has often been doing precisely the job he has been given – that of
being the saving grace of the team. Whether it was opening the odd innings,
donning the wicketkeeper’s gloves or captaining the team under tremendous
duress, there has rarely been a job that Dravid has shied away from, even if
it was not his choice of interest.

The greatest anomaly of his career though would be the fact that he was
never considered built for the one day game. The irony is if a man who is
not a one day specialist can score over 10,000 ODI runs – no ordinary feat
as the statistics will reveal – then there has to be greater pressure and
the raising of the bar of those who are considered naturally born to play
the limited overs format.

To a certain extent, in calling time over his limited overs career, Dravid
has managed to salvage some of the recognition due to him. He leaves the
‘younger’ format still wanted. What’s more he has shown his bat does like
the Twenty20 and the one day game just as much as he relishes the Test
cricket version – the highest format of the game where Dravid still remains
an indomitable force as he showed in the Test series in England.