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HT This Day: January 7, 1999 -- Dravid joins Hazare-Gavaskar club
It is a good guess that the venerable Vijay Hazare and the legendary Sunil Gavaskar will have no hesitation in welcoming a classicist as Rahul Dravid into one of the most exclusive preserves in Indian Test cricket history.
It is a good guess that the venerable Vijay Hazare and the legendary Sunil Gavaskar will have no hesitation in welcoming a classicist as Rahul Dravid into one of the most exclusive preserves in Indian Test cricket history.
Dravid, him from the elegant school of batsmanship, joined them today as only the third Indian batsman to score a century in each innings of a Test match when he made an unbeaten 103 against New Zealand in Hamilton.
By all accounts, together with Vijay Merchant, Hazare was among the first stylists - at least in independent India - and no less a figure than Donald Bradman was impressed by his approach to batsmanship which he scored 116 and 145 in Adelaide against Australia in Jan 1948.
And, there can be no denying that the stamp of class was there in just about everything that Gavaskar did at the crease, whether he was playing the impeccable straight drive, ducking under a nasty bouncer or leaving the slightest of outswingers alone. Gavaskar achieved the feat of a century in each innings as many as three times in his wonderful career, including when he humbled the West Indies with 124 and 220 at Port of Spain in his debut series.
Gavaskar also marked the Indian team’s historic visit to Pakistan with knocks of 111 and 137 in the Karachi Test in Nov 1978 and followed that up next month with 107 and 182 not out off the West Indies in Calcutta. But in becoming the first batsman in more than two decades that have passed since that time, Dravid is indeed a worthy entrant into this elite club.
Truth to tell, it is a fair indication of the overall strength of the team - at least when it plays the Tests abroad and its frustrating inability to pool its undeniable talent together that we are discussing such gains as Dravid’s new found ability to build his half-centuries to more significant landmarks. avid had struggled for long to convert the half-centuries into centuries. In fact, after he made his maiden century - a superb 148 against South Africa at Johannesburg in Jan 1997 - he made 12 fifties in 20 innings before he broke that trend with a knock of 112 at Harare earlier this season.
If the average fan - and often to the selectors too - talent is invariably judged by the number of runs in the scorebook and although it is the batsman’s main business to score runs, there is such a thing as technique to be considered too when discussing class.
The moot question now is: Does his feat of scoring a century in each innings make him a frontrunner for a place in the one-day side, especially considering that the World Cup will be played in the first half of the English summer when his technique may come in handy to anchor the innings.
Perhaps the selectors can check out if Dravid’s newfound confidence will help him in the one-day scheme of things.
After all, the team will need an anchor somewhere at the top of the innings, particularly on English tracks.
