I have failed at times, but I never stopped trying: Dravid
Bangalore: Batting star Rahul Dravid, the second most prolific batsman in the game’s history and India’s middle order bulwark for years, on Friday announced his retirement from Test cricket, saying it was the right time to move on and allow “a new generation of cricketers to make a new history”.
The 39-year-old Dravid, a former Indian captain, said he would leave the stage with wonderful memories and had no regrets to bring down the curtains on his career spanning close to 16 years.
“My approach to cricket has been reasonably simple: it was about giving everything to the team, it was about playing with dignity and it was about upholding the spirit of the game. I hope I have done some of that. I have failed at times, but I have never stopped trying. It is why I leave with sadness but also with pride.”
Dravid thus becomes the first of the three ageing greats of Indian cricket, besides Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, to retire in the aftermath of India’s disastrous Test tour of Australia.
“I would like to announce retirement from international and domestic first-class cricket. It is 16 years since I played my first Test match for India and today I feel it is an time to move on. Once I was like every other boy in India, with a dream of playing for my country. Yet I could never have imagined a journey so long and so fulfilling,” Dravid said at a crowded press conference here.
“I felt it was the right time for me to move on, for a next generation of cricketers to play and make a new history. A lot of these decisions just come to you in different ways. I just felt the time was right. I needed to move on,” said Dravid.
Dravid had already announced his retirement from ODI cricket in England last year after been surprisingly recalled in the team due to his stupendous performance during the Test series against England in which he scored three centuries. Dravid ended his Test career with 13,288 runs — behind only Tendulkar (15,470 in 188 Tests) — in 164 matches, with 36 hundreds and 63 half centuries at an average of 52.31, the 270 against Pakistan being his highest score.
In the one-day cricket which he played from April 1996 to September 2011, he scored 10,889 runs from 344 ODIs with 12 centuries and 83 half centuries at an average of 39.16.
Nicknamed ‘The Wall’ for his dour defence, the always thoughtful-looking Dravid will lead the Jaipur-based Rajasthan Royals side in the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League.
Dravid had a disastrous tour of Australia where he scored only 194 runs in eight innings at an average of 24.25. Even more disappointing was that Dravid, known for his solid technique, was bowled in six out of eight innings.
But, Dravid denied that his poor form in Australia had been a factor in his retirement decision.
“I would like to believe irrespective of how the Australian series had gone, I would have assessed a lot of things and come to the same conclusion.”
“I was fortunate to be part of a wonderful era when India played some of its finest cricket at home and abroad. I leave the game with wonderful memories and strong friendships.” (PTI)
