Rahul Dravid : The Wall

Rahul Dravid, born on 11 January 1973 ,is a former Indian cricketer and captain, widely

regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. Born in a Marathi family, he

started playing cricket at the age of 12 and later represented the state team at the

under-15, under-17 and under-19 levels. Hailed as The Wall, Dravid was named one of the

best five cricketers of the year by Wisden Cricketers' in 2000 and received the Player of the

Year and the Test Player of the Year awards at the inaugural ICC awards ceremony in 2004.

In December 2011, he became the first non-Australian cricketer to deliver the Bradman

Oration in Canberra.

Dravid was born in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. His family later moved

to Bangalore, Karnataka, where he was raised. His mother tongue is Marathi. Dravid's father

worked for a company that makes jams and preserves, giving rise to the later

nickname Jammy. He did his schooling at St. Joseph's Boys High School, Bangalore and

earned a degree in commerce from St. Joseph's College of Commerce, Bangalore. He was

selected to India national cricket team while studying MBA in St Josephs College of

Business Administration.

Personal Life :

On 4 May 2003 he married Vijeta Pendharkar, a surgeon from Nagpur. They have two

children: Samit, born in 2005 and Anvay, born in 2009. Rahul can proficiently

speak Marathi, Hindi, Kannada and English.

Ranji Debut:

Dravid made his Ranji Trophy debut in February 1991, while he was still attending college.

He scored 82 runs in the match, which ended in a draw.

INDIA SOUTH AFRICA SERIES 1996 - DRAVIDS FIRST MAN OF THE MATCH

In this series, Dravid scored his maiden test hundred in the first innings scoring 148 runs and

scored another 81 runs in the second innings fetching a draw for India at the Wanderers. His

performance in this Test earned him his first Man of the Match award in Test cricket. Dravid

top scored for India in the series with 277 runs at an average of 55.40. This series cemented

his position at no. 3 in the Indian batting line up.

Dravid hit his maiden World Cup hundred against Kenya at Bristol, putting up a record

unbeaten partnership of 237 runs with Sachin Tendulkar. There were several stages during his

career when he proved that how essential he is for the team. One such incident was The

historic Dravid Laxman Partnership of 375-run. The match in which Dravid scored 180

runs and Laxman a total of 281 runs, leading India to a Historic win over Australia.

Retirement

He played his last ODI innings against England at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, on 16 September

2011, scoring 69 runs from 79 balls before being bowled by Graeme Swann. His last limited

overs international match was his debut T20I match; he announced his retirement before

playing his first T20I match.

Dravid announced his retirement from Test and domestic cricket on 9 March 2012. He was

the second-highest run scorer and had taken the highest number of catches in Test cricket at

the time of his retirement.

Biographies: Two biographies have been written on Rahul Dravid and his career:

Rahul Dravid A Biography written by Vedam Jaishankar.

The Nice Guy Who Finished First written by Devendra Prabhudesai.

Questions :

Question 1: Where did Rahul Dravid born ? What was the nickname given to him later

during his career ?

Question 2 : When did Dravid scored his maiden Test Hundred and against which team?

Question 3 : Whom did Dravid married to? What was he studying when got selected for

Indian team ?

Question 4 : Name the biographies written on Rahul Dravid and their writers ?