Bangalore: It’s a nickname that perhaps evokes mixed feelings in Rahul Dravid as he is not comfortable being stereotyped. But there is no running away from ‘The Wall’ which is intrinsic to the Dravid legend and on a warm Monday afternoon, Dravid had a share of his own wall inside the Chinnaswamy Stadium premises.
Skyline Builders under the aegis of the Karnataka State Cricket Association dedicated a wall with an embossed outline of a Dravid cover drive and with a run-clock on the right top-corner that will hopefully tick at a frenetic rate from his current tally of 10,246 Test runs once the Test series against Australia commences here on Thursday.
The wall, an imposing grey edifice made of 10,000 bricks is located to the left of the KSCA main gates. It is a tribute to Dravid’s double — 10,000 runs in both Tests and ODIs — by Skyline, for which he is a brand ambassador as well as by the KSCA. The wall also has the words ‘Commitment’, ‘Consistency’ and ‘Class’ inscribed on the left top corner, attributes that aptly reflect Dravid.Cricketing legacy
Dravid walked in for the function with quick winnowing steps, head bowed, dispensing a few signatures for the autograph hunters. He had a quick word with his family and then stepped in amidst the adjoining group that featured a chunk of Karnataka’s cricketing legacy — B.S. Chandrashekar, E.A.S. Prasanna, Syed Kirmani, Brijesh Patel, Raghuram Bhat, K. Jeshwanth, Sudhakar Rao, Sadanand Vishwanath, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad, Sunil Joshi, Vijay Bharadwaj and Sujith Somasundar.
There was a bustle in the gathering as Sachin Tendulkar walked in and as the master of ceremonies said, “we have more than 20,000 Test runs under one roof.” KSCA secretary Brijesh Patel welcomed the gathering and termed the day as “momentous” in the State’s cricketing history.
“I think Ricky Ponting and his men may not look at this wall on the left as they enter the Stadium. They might be intimidated by Dravid’s statistics. I have known Dravid right from his school days and his desire to keep learning right through is the one attribute that has helped him all through.
“The wall here is also an example for our youngsters to emulate. Karnataka cricketers are synonymous with beauty and efficiency and Dravid is a classic example. Old-fashioned
“He is an old-fashioned cricketer who believes in the values of the game. He is part of the exclusive 10,000 club in Tests that also features Brian Lara, Tendulkar, Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Sunil Gavaskar. There is a nice ring to these names and Dravid definitely belongs to this club,” Brijesh said.
Dravid then spoke in his typical under-stated manner. “Initially when Skyline approached me with this concept I was a bit embarrassed and I was not comfortable with the idea. But Brijesh and the KSCA said that it will serve as an example and may be inspire a few young cricketers to emulate me and I finally agreed.
“It has been an honour and also a humbling experience to be here with the legends of the game. I have played with some of them and that I think is the greatest thing for me in my cricketing career,” Dravid said.
And then the moment arrived when Tendulkar drew aside the curtain and the wall was unveiled amidst the blast of confetti.
A few minutes for the shutterbugs and then Dravid and his team-mates were off for their practice stint.
At the back of his mind, Dravid will mull over the missing link in his resume — a Test century at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Hopefully he will paper that chink in the coming days and keep the run-clock on the wall ticking.
Skyline Builders under the aegis of the Karnataka State Cricket Association dedicated a wall with an embossed outline of a Dravid cover drive and with a run-clock on the right top-corner that will hopefully tick at a frenetic rate from his current tally of 10,246 Test runs once the Test series against Australia commences here on Thursday.
The wall, an imposing grey edifice made of 10,000 bricks is located to the left of the KSCA main gates. It is a tribute to Dravid’s double — 10,000 runs in both Tests and ODIs — by Skyline, for which he is a brand ambassador as well as by the KSCA. The wall also has the words ‘Commitment’, ‘Consistency’ and ‘Class’ inscribed on the left top corner, attributes that aptly reflect Dravid.Cricketing legacy
Dravid walked in for the function with quick winnowing steps, head bowed, dispensing a few signatures for the autograph hunters. He had a quick word with his family and then stepped in amidst the adjoining group that featured a chunk of Karnataka’s cricketing legacy — B.S. Chandrashekar, E.A.S. Prasanna, Syed Kirmani, Brijesh Patel, Raghuram Bhat, K. Jeshwanth, Sudhakar Rao, Sadanand Vishwanath, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad, Sunil Joshi, Vijay Bharadwaj and Sujith Somasundar.
There was a bustle in the gathering as Sachin Tendulkar walked in and as the master of ceremonies said, “we have more than 20,000 Test runs under one roof.” KSCA secretary Brijesh Patel welcomed the gathering and termed the day as “momentous” in the State’s cricketing history.
“I think Ricky Ponting and his men may not look at this wall on the left as they enter the Stadium. They might be intimidated by Dravid’s statistics. I have known Dravid right from his school days and his desire to keep learning right through is the one attribute that has helped him all through.
“The wall here is also an example for our youngsters to emulate. Karnataka cricketers are synonymous with beauty and efficiency and Dravid is a classic example. Old-fashioned
“He is an old-fashioned cricketer who believes in the values of the game. He is part of the exclusive 10,000 club in Tests that also features Brian Lara, Tendulkar, Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Sunil Gavaskar. There is a nice ring to these names and Dravid definitely belongs to this club,” Brijesh said.
Dravid then spoke in his typical under-stated manner. “Initially when Skyline approached me with this concept I was a bit embarrassed and I was not comfortable with the idea. But Brijesh and the KSCA said that it will serve as an example and may be inspire a few young cricketers to emulate me and I finally agreed.
“It has been an honour and also a humbling experience to be here with the legends of the game. I have played with some of them and that I think is the greatest thing for me in my cricketing career,” Dravid said.
And then the moment arrived when Tendulkar drew aside the curtain and the wall was unveiled amidst the blast of confetti.
A few minutes for the shutterbugs and then Dravid and his team-mates were off for their practice stint.
At the back of his mind, Dravid will mull over the missing link in his resume — a Test century at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Hopefully he will paper that chink in the coming days and keep the run-clock on the wall ticking.
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