47
9/8
30
1.12
Mohammad Azharuddin
47
14/14
19
1.00
*Qualification: at least 20 Tests as captain
And on the field, he took a record 210 catches, mostly in the slips. That was another aspect of the game where his immense powers of concentration stood him in good stead.
There’s plenty to like about Dravid’s Test career. The one disappointing aspect, though, is his record against Australia and South Africa, arguably the two best bowling sides during his playing period. His poor final series in Australia meant his overall average against them dipped below 40 (38.67), while against South Africa he averaged only 33.83. Thus, in 54 Tests against those two teams, he averaged 36.75, with only four hundreds; in 27 Tests in those two countries, he averaged 36.53, with only two centuries. He never scored another Test hundred in South Africa after that 148 in Johannesburg in 1996-97, while the 233 in Adelaide remained his only Test hundred in Australia. Those, though, are minor blips in a career that largely stayed at an exceptionally high level for more than 15 years.
Dravid in ODIs
Unlike his Test career, which started with a bang, Dravid’s scores in his first five completed ODI innings were 3, 4, 3, 11 and 13. It was only in the tougher conditions of Toronto, in 1996, that his orthodoxy and tight technique were first recognised as a blessing in ODIs as well: in the five-match Friendship Cup against Pakistan, he notched up his first half-century and top-scored in two matches.
That was followed by a few impressive innings, including his maiden century, against Pakistan, in a match overshadowed by Saeed Anwar’s record-breaking 194. However, ODIs were still largely a struggle for Dravid, and perhaps never was that better illustrated than by his 21-ball 1 against Bangladesh in a Coca-Cola Triangular Series match in May 1998. Till the end of that year, his ODI record was strictly modest: an average of under 32, at a strike rate of 63, in 65 games.
In his first ODI of 1999, Dravid broke the shackles with an outstanding unbeaten run-a-ball 123 against New Zealand in Taupo, and that kickstarted a sustained run of excellence over the next seven years. It included a fantastic World Cup in 1999 – 461 runs at 65.85 – and another run-a-ball century against New Zealand later that year, 153 in Hyderabad, which remained his highest ODI score. The 2003 World Cup was another big success – 318 runs at 63.60.
Between 1999 and 2005, Dravid averaged almost 43 from 210 matches, scored ten of his 12 centuries, and won nine of his 14 Man-of-the-Match awards.
Rahul Dravid’s ODI career
Period
ODIs
Runs
Average
Strike rate
100s/50s
Till Dec 1998
65
1709
31.64
63.48
1/12
Jan 1999 to Dec 2005
210
7134
42.97
71.97
10/53
Jan 2006 onwards
69
2046
35.27
76.34
1/18
Career
344
10,889
39.16
71.24
12/83
In the seven years from 1999 to 2005, Dravid was among the most successful ODI batsmen in the world, which says a lot about his ability to work on his game and adapt. Among batsmen with at least 4000 ODI runs during this period, only three – Damien Martyn, Kallis and Tendulkar – had a higher average, while Dravid’s strike rate of 72 was very acceptable too. Batsmen like Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf and Sourav Ganguly, who were generally rated as far more free-stroking, only had marginally higher scoring rates.
Top ODI batsmen between Jan 1999 and Dec 2005*
Batsman
ODIs
Runs
Average
Strike rate
100s/50s
Damien Martyn
163
4411
46.43
78.18
5/30
Jacques Kallis
177
6348
45.66
70.69
10/48
Sachin Tendulkar
151
6181
45.44
85.07
17/28
Rahul Dravid
210
7134
42.97
71.97
10/53
Ricky Ponting
179
6443
42.66
80.48
13/37
Inzamam-ul-Haq
180
5772
42.13
75.61
5/45
Mohammad Yousuf
194
6502
40.89
75.28
10/42
Sourav Ganguly
194
7185
40.82
76.00
17/41
*Qualification: 4000 runs scored
Of the 344 ODIs that Dravid played in, India won 160, and his contributions in those games were pretty significant: 5729 runs at 50.69, which made him one of only 11 batsmen to score 5000 or more runs in wins at 50-plus averages.
Through some of that period between 1999 and 2004, apart from scoring tons of runs Dravid also kept wicket. He was competent enough at the job to do it 73 times, including at the 2003 World Cup. In those 73 games Dravid didn’t allow his batting to suffer, scoring 2300 runs at more than 44 per dismissal. Among wicketkeepers who have scored more than 2000 runs, only MS Dhoni has a higher average. Dravid’s debut as wicketkeeper was especially memorable: in the 1999 World Cup game against Sri Lanka, he smashed 145 off 129 balls and was in a 318-run stand for the second wicket with Ganguly, which at t
he time was the highest partnership for any wicket in ODIs. In fact, Dravid has been involved in both triple-century partnerships that have been recorded in ODI history: later in 1999, he shared a 331-run stand with Tendulkar against New Zealand, and in the process also notched up his highest score.
Best batting averages of wicketkeepers in ODIs*
Player
ODIs
Runs
Average
Strike rate
100s/ 50s
AB de Villiers
37
2009
80.36
99.65
8/11
MS Dhoni
190
6235
49.09
87.50
7/40
Rahul Dravid
73
2300
44.23
72.60
4/14
Kumar Sangakkara
257
8647
39.84
76.99
9/63
Adam Gilchrist
282
9410
35.64
96.94
16/53
Andy Flower
186
5845
34.58
73.71
4/46
Alec Stewart
138
4017
33.47
70.06
4/26
*Qualification: 2000 runs scored
Of all the batsmen he played alongside, Dravid had the most success with Tendulkar and Ganguly, putting together 11 century partnerships and scoring more than 4000 runs with each. That makes him one of only three players – Tendulkar and Ganguly being the others – to have scored more than 4000 partnership runs with at least two batsmen.
Dravid’s partnerships with these two were fruitful in World Cups too: he averaged 88 with Ganguly and almost 83 with Tendulkar. In fact, Dravid’s overall World Cup record was splendid, even though his last World Cup campaign ended in bitter disappointment in 2007. Among batsmen who scored at least 750 World Cup runs, only Viv Richards has a better average.
Best World Cup batting averages*
Batsman
Matches
Runs
Average
Strike rate
100s/50s
Viv Richards
23
1013
63.31
85.05
3/5
Rahul Dravid
22
860
61.42
74.97
2/6
Sachin Tendulkar
45
2278
56.95
88.98
6/15
Herschelle Gibbs
25
1067
56.15
87.38
2/8
Sourav Ganguly
21
1006
55.88
77.50
4/3
Martin Crowe
21
880
55.00
83.57
1/8
*Qualification: 750 runs scored
Dravid’s stint as ODI captain is remembered largely for India’s shocking early exit in 2007, but India’s overall ODI record under his leadership was extremely healthy. In 79 games they won 42 and lost 33, giving them a win-loss ratio of 1.27. Among captains who have led India at least 50 times in ODIs, only Dhoni has a better ratio.
Indian captains and their ODI records*
Captain
ODIs
W/L
Ratio
Bat ave
Strike rate
MS Dhoni
106
59/37
1.59
52.92
82.55
Rahul Dravid
79
42/33
1.27
42.19
75.42
Mohammad Azharuddin
174
90/76
1.18
39.39
78.46
Kapil Dev
74
39/33
1.18
30.66
105.74
Sourav Ganguly
146
76/65
1.16
38.79
76.32
Sachin Tendulkar
73
23/43
0.53
37.75
83.49
*Qualification: 50 matches played as captain
Like in Tests, though, the one blot on Dravid’s ODI career is his record against the best team of his era: in 39 innings against Australia, he had a highest score of 80, an average of 24.97 and a strike rate of 66.94. Those are disappointing numbers, especially given the number of matches he played against them. Of course, given Australia’s awesome bowling attack, plenty of other top ODI batsmen struggled too – Ganguly averaged 23.45, Anwar 23.55, and Sehwag 22.37. Against all the other teams, though, Dravid’s record was top-class, even in a format that was initially thought to be o
utside his comfort zone.
S Rajesh is stats editor of ESPNcricinfo, where a version of this article was first published on March 9, 2012.
Test match record
Career averages
Mat
Inns
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
SR
100
50
overall
164
286
32
13288
270
52.31
42.51
36
63
Career summary
Grouping
Mat
Inns
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
SR
100
50
ICC World XI
1
2
0
23
23
11.50
31.08
0
Rahul Dravid: Timeless Steel Page 22