Rahul Dravid’s name is not an unknown name in the world of cricket, especially in the Indian circles. Widely regarded by a group of fans of the game to have been the best batsman that the sport had ever seen, Rahul Dravid came, played the gentleman’s game like one, conquered every task that came his way and left silently, leaving behind a plethora of records.
While many of his records have been broken or are close to being broken, here are 5 such records of his that may not be broken in the near future.
1. Most number of catches by a fielder in Test cricket
Everyone knows how accomplished Rahul Dravid was in Test cricket with the bat in hand. There is another record though, that he has to his name, but not with the bat in hand. It is that of being the person to have taken most number of catches as a fielder in Test cricket.
Dravid was one of the most skilled fielders in the slip cordon India has ever seen, and the same can be seen in his statistics. Having played in 164 matches, Dravid had taken 210 catches in total, which is the highest by any fielder in the format till date. The closest to him on the list is Mahela Jayawardene, with 205 catches, but he is retired now, so his tally is of no threat to Dravid’s record. Even in the top 10, there is no active player, which means that this record is here to stay in Dravid’s name in the near future.
2. Oldest debutant for India in T20 Internationals
There is hardly any place in the world of cricket where Dravid does not have his name not listed in the record books. And, the fact that he has a record to his name in the only T20I he played is a testament to the fact that he made his presence felt each time he stepped on to the field. The record that he has to his name does involve his numbers on the stats sheet, but those listed on his birth certificate, as he is the oldest player to have debuted for the Indian team in T20Is.
When Dravid made his debut, in a T20I against the England cricket team on the 31st of August in 2011, he was aged 38 years, 7 months and 20 days, which is the highest age for a debutant for the Indian team in T20Is. In that game, he scored 31 runs off 21 deliveries and proved that he could be as efficient as a batsman in T20Is as a he was in Test cricket. Given the fact that most of the players in the Indian cricket team are scouted at a young age from competitions like the India Premier League, the chance of Dravid’s name being ousted from this record is almost zero.
3. Most dot balls faced by a batsman in Test cricket
Rahul Dravid during his time with the Indian cricket team was famous for the way he showed patience and stayed on the crease for extensively long periods of time, which earned him the title of ‘The Wall’. And, it is understandable that for the time he spent on the crease, he would have faced a number of dot deliveries too.
It would surprise anyone when it is told that he faced a grand total of 31,258 dot deliveries during the course of the 164 Tests he played. No other batsman in world cricket has even crossed the 30,000 mark, ensuring that this record of Dravid will stay with him for a long time. While playing in the longest format of the game, he used to face an average of 190.6 balls per Test match, making sure that he was there to score runs and see his team through some of the toughest periods of play in the match. He was known to be a player with a temperament that seemed as if it had been curated for Test cricket.
4. Most runs scored in Tests while he was on crease
After reading the previous fact, many fans would think that Rahul Dravid used to hog the balls and not score much. But, he used to score runs and oversee them being scored from the other end too. During the time that he was one the crease as a batsman in Test cricket, a total of close to 32,000 runs were scored in total and this stands to be a record till date.
While no other player is close, this number is such that even if a player tries to even surpass this record, it would take much more time for him or her than what was required by Dravid. The absolute legend of the game was in true sense a skilled batsman who not only batted well himself but let others around him express themselves while stroke making, because as long as he was there, the other player was assured that the other end was secure.
5. Most number of minutes spent at the crease by a batsman in Test cricket
With the world of cricket changing every minute and even Test cricket getting faster and evolving at a brisk pace, the style of play of the cricket players has become such that they are not able to spend much time on the crease. There are players like Cheteshwar Pujara, who like to spend time on the crease, no one gets close to Rahul Dravid when it comes to spending time on the crease.
Dravid clocked a whopping 44,152 minutes in total and no other player even comes in the 42 or 43 thousand range, leave along coming close to the number that this man has to his name. The closest player to him on the list of players in Test cricket is Sachin Tendulkar, who 2,848 fewer minutes than him, in spite of having played 36 more matches than him. Dravid loved batting and mastered the skill in the best way possible, and the way he played can still send any cricket fan into a heavenly escape whenever he or she watches the clippings of him batting.
