After talking about Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, it would not be right if we don’t talk about the Third part of the glorious Trio of Indian cricket. Rahul Dravid was always Mr Dependable and till the time he was in there the match was not lost especially test matches because he used to bat for so long that the Bowlers used to tire out and then the other batters could score runs and India won a lot of matches. He was also a team man as he would do anything for the team like wicket keeping or batting down the order or up the order. Let’s look at his records below.
Rahul Dravid is one of the most tenured and respected cricketers of all time. The way he played for India is commendable and his records speak for themselves. He has played a massive 164 Test Matches for India which is in the Top 10 All Time and in those many matches he scored 13288 Test runs at an outstanding average of 52.31 and he made 36 Test hundreds which is very impressive. In the ODI scene he played 344 ODI matches for India and he got 10889 runs at an average of 39.17 with 12 hundreds which means he had a total of 48 hundreds for India in international cricket. Let’s look at the Top 5 Best Rahul Dravid batting Performances.
148 vs South Africa (1997)
The first test hundred for Rahul Dravid and what a brilliant hundred it was and it came at a difficult batting track at The Wanderers in Johannesburg against a South African bowling attack which had Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock together. He came out at number 3 and showed that he belonged at the big stage and he got 148 runs in a massive 362 balls with the help of 21 fours which means 84 runs in boundaries. He played so many dot balls and soaked up the pressure and that is what makes this one of his best ever innings.
Check here Best innings of Sourav Ganguly
190 and 103* vs New Zealand (1999)
This is one of those test matches that a player dreams about. Scoring almost 300 runs in 2 Innings combined and at a pitch where all the other batters were struggling to get Runs. It was a special performance. In the first innings it was only him that got a three figures score and he played 353 balls with 31 fours meaning 124 runs in boundaries. The hundred in the fourth Innings of this test match was totally different from the first one as he scored 103* in just 136 balls with 16 fours and at a strike rate of over 75. He showed that he could play both ways whenever the team needed him to and that’s what made him stand out.
Check here Best Gundappa Viswanath batting Performances
180 vs Australia (2001)
Probably one of the most important innings in the career of Rahul Dravid and one which made him a superstar in Indian cricket along with VVS Laxman. It was the historic Eden Gardens test match of 2001 and Australia were all over India and it looked like another loss but VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid had other plans. They batted a whole day in the heat and Rahul Dravid especially as he had fever during batting yet he scored a match winning 180 runs in 353 balls with 20 fours and India won probably their most famous test match. Rahul Dravid was one of the best ever.
Also Read | Best Dilip Vengsarkar batting Performances
233 and 72* vs Australia (2004)
If in the last innings it was the most important win in the test history for India then in this match it was Rahul Dravid alone who won India one of their most famous overseas wins ever. Australia made 556 runs in the first innings but Rahul Dravid made 233 in reply and he played 446 balls and he hit 23 fours and 1 six to keep India level. It was one of the best double Hundreds ever as India were under so much pressure. Then in the fourth Innings, India had 233 runs to win abs yet again it was Rahul Dravid who hit a brilliant 72* in 170 balls with only 7 fours but he won this test match for India.
Also Read | Best innings of Suresh Raina
153 vs New Zealand (1999)
What Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar did to a good New Zealand team in this match will forever be etched in history but we are here to talk about the best innings that Rahul Dravid played in ODIs. This was Dravid at his imperious best and he took 153 balls to make the same amount of runs which means a strike rate of 100. He smashed 15 fours and 2 sixes in this innings to show that he was an all format player. His legacy to cricket will forever be celebrated.
Also Read: Rahul Dravid Profile, Stats and Records
