Rahul Dravid

The player and the man

Born on January 11 1973, Rahul came into a Maharashtrian Deshastha family in Indore. His father worked in a company which made jams (hence the nickname Jammy) while his mother was a professor of architecture.

Dravid started playing cricket at the age of 12, and represented the state at the under-15, under-17 and under-19 level.

Rahul's talents were first spotted by former cricketer Keki Tarapore who was coaching at a summer coaching camp. He went on to score a double century for his school on debut

The talent to play cricket was in Dravid as much as in any youngster his age. He was selected to make his Ranji Trophy debut in February 1991 against Maharashtra in Pune

Opportunities came thick and fast since and he made his Test debut for India in 1996 against England.

Although busy cracking runs, Dravid also attended St. Joseph's College of Commerce in Bangalore.

He however, soon joined ranks with fellow greats like VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly and Sachin tendulkar to usher India into a new age of fierce and solid cricket. Dravid's main weapon was his solid technique with the bat.

Considered the heartthrob of the entire country, Dravid chose to break many when he married Vijeta Pendharkar, a surgeon from Nagpur in 2003.

The couple have two sons - Samit (born 2005) and Anvay (born 2009).

Laurels came thick and fast for Dravid who has always been grateful to his parents and has thanked them for helping him achieve the things he has.