Rahul Dravid or Tendulkar who is Greater ?

India has been playing test cricket since 1932 and one can recount the names of Colonel CK Nayudu, Vijay Merchant, Vijay Hazare, Nawab of Pataudi, Sunil Gavaskar and more recently Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar who have made a name for themselves. One obviously would ask who is the greatest ?.

Most people would vote for Sachin Tendulkar, as he the maximum centuries in Test cricket (50).  But  despite a plethora of records he has one ingredient missing and that is; he is not a match winner or a match savior. In his two decades in the Indian team Tendulkar has been unable to sustain any winning spree. On the contrary there have been umpteen occasions when India were within reach of victory, yet floundered at the post and lost, because Tendulkar was not up to the task and failed. Neither was he a match savior and on many occasions India lost to the lowest ranked team in world cricket Zimbabwe with Sachin in the ranks. He is also guilty of missing a  tough tour like the West Indies in 2011 and earlier in 2007 on flimsy pretexts.

In my opinion the greatest Indian batsmen is Rahul Dravid. He is one man who is not only a role model, but has been the veritable ‘Wall’ who has blunted the opposition. His records and performance speak for themselves and this is one batsman who has never said ‘No” to either going on a tour or playing in a test. In fact his best records are on unplayable pitches like in the West Indies. His 34 centuries are proof of his ability. But one does not go by statistics, but by the manner he faced the opposition, in particular the pace bowlers. After GR Vishwanath, he is the one player who has a tremendous record of courage and bravery against the most lethal bowlers in test Cricket.

Dravid is a soft spoken and unassuming player. One look at him and a person can sense his dedication to the game. Over the last decade and a half his record of being a factor in an Indian win or a match saved has largely gone unnoticed. He is humble and dedicated. It’s about time we recognized him as the greatest Indian Test batsman of all time.