Rahul Dravid

At a time when cricketers are increasingly being known for the size of diamonds in the earrings they sport and the Bollywood actresses they date, Rahul Dravid is a throwback to the times when a captain was a gentleman first and a player next.

A cerebral, intelligent, well-read cricketer, Dravid is the only Indian other than Sachin Tendulkar to have scored 10,000 runs in both forms of the game. But when Dravid began his cricketing journey in Karnataka, it wasn’t a certainty that he would develop into such a well-rounded batsman.

After a spectacular Test debut at Lord’s, Dravid struggled with the one-day form of the game, his method of play not obviously suited to a format that rewarded quick scoring before all else. Left out of the ODI team for an extended spell in 1997-98, Dravid revisited his game, had an epiphany of sorts and returned to the fold with a better understanding of his own game and the limited-overs format.

From then on, he was a regular in both formats of cricket and was made captain in 2005. In Test cricket Dravid has now batted more often at No. 3, the pivotal position in the line-up, more often than anyone in history, and averages more at that position than anyone save Sir Don Bradman.

As the leader of the team, he presided over some crucial overseas wins and was also involved in pushing the Board of Control for Cricket in India towards professionalism, bringing in several key changes including central contracts for players.

Like any sportsman who has had a long career, Dravid has had his shares of ups and downs, but unlike most, he has never lost the respect of his peers in the process.