Rahul Dravid, who is fondly called as ‘The Wall’ of the Indian cricket team, is one of the finest batsmen to have ever played for India. Known for his solid technique, Dravid made his debut in 1996 against England at Lords and went on to become a stalwart figure in India. He was among the rare cricketers whose defensive ability terrified even the deadliest bowling attack.
With over 24000 international runs and 489 centuries, Rahul Dravid is one of the few cricketers who went on to prove their mettle in all the three formats of the game in both overseas and home games. During his playing days, Rahul Dravid used to play tirelessly and was difficult to get rid of. Former Pakistani bowler Shoaib Akhtar has not come on record to say that the former India ace would play him easily.
Recently, in an interview, Shoaib Akhtar pointed out that the determination and ability, with which Dravid used to play made him a very difficult opposition to bowl. Talking about the same on Aakash Chopra’s YouTube show AakashVani he said:
“If a batsman used to play, like Rahul Dravid, we would bowl him length balls. From close to the stump we would aim the gap between bat and pad, try hit the ball on the pad. There was a final match in Bangalore, I had dismissed Sadagoppan Ramesh early, we took 3-4 wickets early. Sachin Tendulkar was not playing,”
He further shared an incident where Shahid Afridi and he wanted to dismiss Rahul Dravid as early as possible to enjoy their Friday night plans. He revealed how he hit him on his pad and then urged the umpire to declare him out. He said:
“Shahid Afridi and I said Rahul Dravid will take a lot of time and its Friday night today. Afridi said bowl something and take his wicket else he will play for long. I hit him directly on the pad and urged umpire to raise his fingers. I even said it’s our Friday night. He did not give the decision in our favour but we had won in the end. Dravid was difficult and a determined batsman. It was difficult for me as well as him. He would play against me easily,”
