Rahul Dravid then and now!

Had India won the second oneday international against England at Lordrsquos on July 14 it would have been a nearperfect 20th anniversary of the epic 2002 NatWest Series final win triumphI say nearperfect because that cricketing heist was pulled off a day earliermdashon July 13mdashat the spiritual headquarters of cricketBe that as it may Indiarsquos 2022 English summer was similar to the one they experienced in 2002 Like way back then India and England shared the Test series honours although both sides ended up winning one Test each as against this summerrsquos 22 result and India similarly took the ODI honoursI was fortunate to cover that NatWest Series a triangular competition featuring Sri LankaMohammed Kaif and Yuvraj Singh deservedly attracted plaudits for piloting the NatWest victory with their 121run partnership for the sixth wicket but the summer also witnessed some heroics from the present head coach Rahul Dravid He was given the job to keep wickets in limited overs cricket on the West Indies tour earlier in the yearDravid didnrsquot give me the slightest impression that he disliked performing both roles as we walked on the hallowed Lordrsquos turf to get to the pavilion end after a practice session at the Nursery ground ldquoI see it as additional responsibility Itrsquos a great honour to represent your country and walk out there on the park with your mates I try to do my best whether it is batting wicketkeeping or fielding Some days it works out sometimes it doesnrsquot Yoursquove got to accept thatrdquo he said Then he surprised me during the interview ldquoIrsquom beginning to enjoy wicketkeeping a bit more Actually itrsquos quite good because it keeps you involved in the gamerdquo As expected Dravid kept wickets in Indiarsquos first game of the series He held on to catches that dismissed opener Marcus Trescothick and allrounder Paul Collingwood and stumped Nasser Hussain off Yuvraj Singh as England piled up 2717 Skipper Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag put on 109 for the opening stand but India lost Sehwag Dinesh Mongia Sachin Tendulkar and Ganguly in the space of 32 runs before Dravid and Yuvraj batted fluently for the visitors to beat the hosts by six wickets with seven balls to spare Dravid stayed unbeaten with an 86ball 73 while Yuvraj smashed an unbeaten 64 off 65 ballsThe fact that Gangulyrsquos men chased the target must have surprised opposition skipper Nasser Hussain who felt chasing was Indiarsquos weak areaThen India coach John Wright had learnt of Hussainrsquos utterances and must have had a quiet laughDravidrsquos next game against England was a rewarding one as well 82 and a 169run stand with centurion Sachin Tendulkar at ChesterLeStreet where both teams shared points in a raincaused no resultTwo days later in chilly Birmingham Dravid teamed up with Yuvraj for a fruitful partnership 91 for the fifth wicket just like he had done at Lordrsquos on June 29 to win in a chase The target was only 188 but Dravid and Yuvraj began their rescue act when Indiarsquos innings resembled a burning deck at 594Dravidrsquos straight six off Thilan Samaraweera was a memorable stroke in his 64run innings that ended in a run out by which time India were nearly homeA thigh injury kept Dravid out of the playing XI against England at The Oval the only game Gangulyrsquos team lost in the tournament But he was back at Bristol where Sri Lanka were beaten by 63 runsA total of 18 runs at Bristol and the final at Lordrsquos meant that Dravid couldnrsquot finish the tournament with some personal batting satisfaction but one canrsquot forget the job he did as wicketkeeper and a crisis man with the bat There was fluency in his strokeplay and that nevergiveup rubber stamp that pushed Indiarsquos file from one level to another as it wereThat Dravid was no sucker for going over the top after a victory was manifest in the fact that it was he according to coach Wright in his book John Wrightrsquos Indian Summers who shot down the idea of the whole team taking off their shirts like Ganguly famously did after beating England in the final at LordrsquosIn the fourTest series that was to follow Dravid made three hundreds the most significant one being the 148 in the third Test at Leeds where India won after losing the opening Test at Lordrsquos and drawing the second Test at Trent Bridge At The Oval where a draw ended the series 11 Dravid carved 217 It was an effort that deserved profound description and Rob Smyth did justice in his 2003 Wisden Cricketersrsquo Almanack report ldquoAll the while Dravid ground on and on false strokes as rare as a steak tartare to become the first Indian to make centuries in three consecutive Test innings in the same series since Sunil Gavaskar in 197071 He also took his crease occupation for the series past 30 hoursmdashan entire Test match or eight showings of the Oscarnominated Lagaanmdashand eventually made his highest firstclass score in 10 and a half hoursrdquoDravid never had a bad tour in his six international visits to England as a player The first one as head coach of the senior team was not disastrous either Itrsquos an appropriate time to say wah Wallmiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper