Full text of Rahul Dravid's retirement speech

SKM Sports

Here is the complete speech made by former Indian captain Rahul Dravid, who announced his retirement from Tests and first-class cricket, in his hometown Bangalore on March 9:

“I would like to announce my retirement from international and domestic first-class cricket. It has been 16 years since I first played a Test match for India, and I feel it's time for me to move on. Once I was like every other boy in India, with a dream of playing for my country. Yet I could never have imagined a journey so long and so fulfilling. I have had a wonderful time, but now it is time for a new generation of young players to make their own history and take the Indian cricket team even further.”

“No dream is ever chased alone. As I look back, as one does at such a time, I have many people to thank for supporting me, teaching me and believing in me.”

“My junior coaches in Bangalore and at various junior national camps inculcated in me a powerful love of the game which has always stayed with me.”

“My coaches at the international level have added to my craft and helped shape my personality. They pushed me and challenged me to keep getting better. The physios and trainers worked hard to keep me fit -- not an easy job -- and allowed me to play late into my 30s.”

“The selectors who rarely receive any credit in India had, on occasions, more confidence in me than I had in myself and I am grateful for that. The various captains I played under offered me guidance and inspired me.”

“The media has been kind to me, and I have respect for their craft.”

“The KSCA and BCCI have provided me a platform and the facilities to play the game.”

“But most of all, I have to thank the teams I played with. I know what I am going to miss the most is being part of a unit. The joy of bonding together and striving to achieve a goal is what made cricket special for me. I was lucky in my early years to play for a Karnataka team which was trying to forge itself into a strong side and they were years of fun and learning.”

“In the Indian team, I was fortunate to be part of a wonderful era when India played some of its finest cricket at home and abroad. Many of my teammates have become legends, not just in India but in the wider cricketing world. I admired them, learnt from them and I leave the game with wonderful memories and strong friendships. It is a great gift to have.”

“A career in sport is almost impossible to manage without the support, guidance, and reassurance of family and friends. During tough times -- and there have been many -- they are the ones we go to. I found strength and encouragement from my parents (Sharad and Pushpa ) and brother (Vijay) and they created around me a positive environment which was essential to my success.”

“My wife, Vijeeta, has been a remarkable partner in my journey. She has made sacrifices in her own career and has almost been a single parent bringing up our children alone as I travelled abroad to play. Whenever challenges appeared, she was always there, as sounding board, as ally and as guide. Being away from my family became harder and harder through the years and I look forward now to spending time at home and doing the simple things, like just taking my sons (Samit and Anvay) to school.”

“Finally, I would like to thank the Indian cricket fan, both here and across the world. The game is lucky to have you and I have been lucky to play before you. To represent India, and thus to represent you, has been a privilege and one which I have always taken seriously. My approach to cricket has been reasonably simple: it was about giving everything to the team, it was about playing with dignity, and it was about upholding the spirit of the game. I hope I have done some of that. I have failed at times, but I have never stopped trying. It is why I leave with sadness but also with pride.”

Gentleman cricketer Dravid bids farewell to international arena

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The time finally came to bid farewell. After having carved a niche for himself during his 15-year stay in international cricket Rahul Dravid has decided to call it a day. He announced retirement in a press conference in his hometown Bangalore on March 9.

Narayanaswami Srinivasan, President, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and Anil Kumble, a former Indian captain and now President of Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), was also present on the occasion.

The 39-year-old Dravid, having retired from One-day Internationals last year, has now quit Test cricket as well. He, however, will be in action in the upcoming fifth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) where he will be leading Rajasthan Royals.

His retirement had appeared on the cards after a dismal tour of Australia where the Indians were mercilessly exposed by the young brigade of home fast bowlers. He could have stayed on, had the form of the other two bigwigs, Sachin Tendulkar and V V S Laxman, not slumped simultaneously.

Tendulkar and Laxman, alongwith Virender Sehwag, had also flopped miserably in England last summer where Dravid’s three centuries went in vain due to the total failure of the other prolific batsmen.

With eight successive Test defeats overseas the time had come to bring about a change and induct newcomers to do the job. Dravid has taken the lead, despite having had a terrific last year. Now the pressure will be on Tendulkar and Laxman to follow suit.

Tendulkar’s retirement appears a matter of time too. Probably he is awaiting his 100th century in international cricket before he hangs his boots too. I think he will enjoy leading Mumbai Indians in the IPL where the settings are nearly ideal to his liking. I am not sure what Laxman is waiting for.

Indeed it’s a very sad day for cricket because the game will never be the same without Dravid and the Indian team in particular will miss him a lot. He was the one batsman who anchored the innings and let the stroke-makers do the business from the other end. It’s going to be very difficult to find anyone right away to perform that role.

More than anyone else he was a team man, who always gave more than one hundred percent, something which could not be said about his illustrious contemporaries with certainty.

Dravid was a great ambassador of the game and indeed a perfect role model for the gentleman's game. In fact he’s probably the last gentleman cricketer of an era when professionalism and greed caused irreparable damage to the reputation of the sport.

Instead of personal records or glories, he cared purely for the team’s interests. He did keep wickets, which was not his job, just to allow a balance in the side on a number of occasions, most notably the 2003 World Cup.

He aggregated 13,288 runs at 52.31 in 164 Test matches since making his debut against England at the Lord's in 1996. Only Tendulkar, with 15470, has scored more runs in Test matches. He remains the world record holder for the highest the number of Test catches (210).

The end of an era for sure

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Although cricket is a game of uncertainty and nothing could be predicted or assessed surely but when it comes to the Indians going downhill everything becomes very clearly predictable.

When the Indians are not on top of their game it means catastrophe for them for all practical purposes because nothing comes to save them. When Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s side was whitewashed in England last summer there was a feeling that the injuries to key players contributed decisively to their downfall.

But the manner in which their full strength has been bulldozed in Australia now the message is loud and clear that their batting stalwarts are over the hill and the trio of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and V V S Laxman needs to be shown the door.

The greatness of Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman can never be doubted but they have done enough disservice to their team by not being able to save a single Test match in last eight attempts overseas.

Call it shameful or disgraceful losing eight Tests on a trot away from home is a blot for what used to be the top ranked side before. The team which used to win Test matches at the strength of its batters in every corner of the world is now unable to force even a draw on the most placid of pitches.

The trio of Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman served the cause of the Indian cricket in their heydays but they have been under the hammer for the past eight months. They have failed miserably in the challenging conditions of England and Australia where they used to score freely in the past.

The Indian selectors as well as their think-tank seemed to have missed a trick by not having taken the preventive measures. Another factor to have contributed in their downward journey appears to be the absence of Garry Kirsten, who had excelled in the role of a coach.

Duncan Fletcher must be having credentials to be a competent coach but he’s nowhere near to the class of the brainy Kirsten who suited the Indians in many ways and was chiefly responsible for taking them to the top of the ladder.

Obviously in a country like India where cricket is much more than just a sport, it’s never easy or even practical to make tough calls. That’s why the Greg Chappell theory of institutionalization didn’t work in his stint as the Indian coach.

Some other countries might have dumped Tendulkar and Laxman right away after the disastrous tour of England but it might not have been possible doing it in India as the matter could easily have been taken to the parliament or people would turned to streets in protest.

If India had to lose all four Tests in Australia, they would have been better off doing it with a young brigade. Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma could have scored more than Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman as Virat Kohli proved.

Kohli’s start to Test career wasn’t an impressive one but he has improved in leaps and bounds lately. Sharma and Raina, both of them natural stroke-makers, could have also benefited greatly if given a chance there.

Not so happy birthday Rahul Dravid!

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Rahul Dravid is turning 39. In fact he will be reaching this ‘milestone’ of sorts a few hours earlier on January 11, 2012 by virtue of being in Australia rather than in India.

He is at the stage of life when the increase in the number of burning candles in birthday is not a welcome sign. He is in the 40th year of his life now, already the oldest international cricketer on show with even Sachin Tendulkar being three months younger to him.

Dravid, very appropriately titled ‘The Wall’ for his grit, determination and character, has done enough to be remembered as one of the legends of the game. His accomplishments are far too many to be summarized in a single write-up.

Cricketers like him are born once in lifetime. A team man to the core, he has had the mental strength to withstand the quickest of bowlers with minimum of fuss. While the ordinary mortals would have struggled to do it, he has succeeded in rising to the occasion more often than not.

The single greatest quality of his has been to contribute substantially when the chips are down. He’s the batsman most likely to turn the tide if the pitch has uneven bounce and the ball is doing all sorts of tricks.

Dravid’s international career spans over 15 years now. More than the quantum of runs and centuries it’s the manner and the circumstances in which he got them has immortalized him.

2011 was yet another golden year for him. Wasn’t it quite extraordinary that he continued compiling runs when the others failed in demanding conditions? He scored prolifically in the West Indies where the balls kept terribly low on most of the surfaces. Then he stood up against the England bowlers in conditions that were different altogether.

The tour of Australia, starting with the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, was surely going to test the high-profile Indian batsmen and Dravid was most likely to be the leading run-getter once more.

That has not happened yet and the Indians are in shambles, having lost the first two Tests and not much hope going into the last two. The scenario is not alien to them. They were in similar situation in Australia four years ago too.

It was Dravid who had led the turnaround in 2008 by topscoring in the Perth Test where India registered a famous victory against the heaviest odds.

Perth is again the venue. The Indians appear down and out. Will Dravid, in his 40th year, come up with another magical performance to prove the so-called experts wrong who are predicting another whitewash?

Dravid may not be in the ideal frame of mind at this stage, having been undone by the young Australian speedsters but he has the knack of bouncing back with vengeance. He holds the key to India’s fortunes today. If he gets a couple of big scores things could change dramatically.He certainly has the skill, patience and will power to deliver once.

Did Dravid need to retire from ODIs?

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Rahul Dravid has indeed celebrated his 38th birthday. In fact he will be turning 39 in little over three months time from now. But did it mean that he needed to retire ‘officially’ from limited overs games at this point of time when runs were flowing as naturally from his blade as in the past.

I don’t understand the logic behind this particular decision of his. Did someone in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) or anyone of the selectors prompt him to announce his retirement or was it a personal move to conserve energy and extend his Test career?

Dravid was not playing One-day Internationals or Twenty20 Internationals all that regularly during the last few years when Mahendra Singh Dhoni appeared more comfortable leading a bunch of youngsters who were sharper in the field for sure.

India used to turn to Dravid in ODIs only in case of emergency when the pitches were livelier and the conditions were tougher for batting. That was a fair enough tactic, selecting him only for those matches where he was needed most.

After having scored three centuries in the four-Test series he was an automatic choice for the ODIs against England. In fact he was also selected for the one-off T20I. His announcement to retire from the limited overs cricket at the end of the ODIs was shocking to say the least.

May be someone from the BCCI or the selection committee approached him to declare his retirement plan in advance so that they didn’t face criticism for ignoring him in the event of the youngsters failing to deliver.

Obviously the BCCI officials were under enormous pressure after the debacle in the Test series and they were looking into ways and means of damage control. Dravid was the only batsman to get going in Test matches and he could not have been dropped from the ODIs if available.

As the whole world saw Dravid has lost none of his batting prowess. His continued success highlights the point that cricket is a game of technique and mind power. Even in ODIs and T20s skills are needed to score consistently. A slogger or a dasher can score heavily on a given day but he can’t be expected to do it in every outing.

Dravid still has the hunger and passion to score runs. If the Indians are finding it difficult to get high quality young batsmen then they should persist with those having proven record and whose capacity is beyond doubt.

Dravid’s decision to quit means he won’t be considered for the upcoming ODI series at home against England. More importantly he won’t be in action, until he reverses his decision to quit, in the one-dayers during India’s demanding tour of Australia where the pitches will have bounce and carry. Will the youngsters having accumulated heaps of runs at will on docile Indian tracks will come good in the more challenging environment or will they succumb again?

Ponting deriving inspiration from Dravid

By Syed Khalid Mahmood



Ricky Ponting, one of the most prolific run-getters in the game and a former Australian captain, has a reason to derive inspiration from Rahul Dravid, the champion Indian batsman who has overcome a lean patch in most spectacular fashion.



Obviously when you have a long career there are bound to be ups and downs. It’s next to impossible to be consistent all along for 15 years when playing 100 or 150 Test matches. It has become a tougher challenge of late because of the increase in the frequency of match and the excessive workload nearly everyone is subjected to.



The 38-year-old Dravid is a bit lucky in this context because, unlike the 36-year-old Ponting, he has not been a regular member of India’s limited-overs outfits for the past few years. Other than that both these great batsmen have quite a few things in common. Ponting has had to take care of Australian batting in One-day Internationals as well as Twenty20 Internationals.



Both of them have had the knack of fighting it out until the very well. They have set examples for others to follow with batting of the highest class in the toughest of conditions. They have been class act for a very long time, having endured different phases in their illustrious career.



Ponting once was the aggressor when he had the likes of Justin Langer, Damien Martyn and Steve Waugh to hang around and take care of occupation of crease. After their retirement with those of Mathew Hayden, Mark Waugh and Adam Gilchrist, he took the responsibility of spending more time at the wicket.



Ponting, himself a fighter to the core, has revealed having encouraged Dravid to fight through his struggles and continue playing when their sides met in the two-Test series in India last October.



"I remember after our last series in India there was a lot of talk and speculation about Dravid being finished. I actually went and found him at the end of the series and said 'don't you even think about retiring' because I just saw some stuff in a few of his innings that suggested he was still a very, very good player. I just said 'don't let them wear you down, don't let them get you down'. I received a similar text message before and after the Ashes from him as well," the former Australian skipper disclosed.



"There are a few who provide an inspiration for batsmen of advancing years. Sachin Tendulkar and Jacques Kallis both had a great last year; Dravid is doing well now. It's not only good for guys of my age to see guys doing that, it's good for the younger blokes to see it as well; to know that if you keep doing the right things and working hard, and if you've got talent, then age is not a barrier in our game," Ponting added.



Dravid’s success in 2011 should inspire Ponting, who has been short of runs in Test matches in particular. Both these batting greats have lost none of their passion and retirement doesn’t seem in their plan at the moment. Cricket certainly needs characters like them.