If there’s one public figure that has had an impact on my life, it without a doubt has to be Rahul Dravid. He was a cricketer par excellence but more importantly he has always been an even better role model.
I recently had the opportunity to introduce the boys to ‘The Wall’ – the monument built at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here in Bangalore in honour of him crossing 10,000 Test runs. They know he was a great cricketer and my favourite, but getting them acquainted with just how much a positive influence he has been on both me and his legion of fans will take some time. For today I plan to start by reading out to them the articles I wrote on Dravid the day he retired from international cricket. This was back in 2012 when I was a cricket journalist for Yahoo and also covered his retirement press conference.
Here’s an excerpt from my tribute to him ‘Confessions of Dravid Fan’
“Rahul took one step at a time and made the transition from an unsure middle-class boy to an erudite, classy statesman for the game and his country. In the process he has motivated many like me to go beyond what destiny has scripted for us. To challenge the cobwebs in our minds. His life and career is testament to the old adage – Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man, but sooner or later the man who wins is the one who thinks he can.”
The pictures and formatting have somehow disappeared and but you can read the whole piece here
And you can find my story on his retirement press conference here
Let’s hope Adhyant, Nirbhay and the rest of their generation and draw inspiration from Rahul Dravid too!