Published: Jan 02, 2015, 09:24 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 02, 2015, 09:24 PM (IST)
Former Indian cricketer in December 2011 became the first ever Indian cricketer to give a speech at Bradman Oration in Canberra. His innings with the microphone was as impressive as his outings in the middle of the pitch.
Dravid, a man who has a keen interest in history, spoke at length about the historical facts that bonded India and Australia, and connected it to the joy that Sir Don Bradman brought to the Indians. Dravid went on to describe the impact Bradman, widely acknowledged as the greatest ever cricketer, had on the people of India, especially when the Australia were thrashing the English.
“For one generation of fans in my country, those who grew up in the 1930s, when India was still under British rule, Bradman represented a cricketing excellence that belonged to somewhere outside England. To a country taking its first steps in Test cricket, that meant something. His success against England at that time was thought of as our personal success. He was striking one for all of us ruled by the common enemy. Or as your country has so poetically called them, the Poms,” said Dravid.
Just like Dravid’s batting was a fantastic mix of solid defence and classical strokes, his speech was informative, insightful with occasional smart humour weaved in.
“It is however, incongruous, that I, an Indian, happen to be the first cricketer from outside Australia, invited to deliver the Bradman Oration. I don’t say that only because Sir Don once scored a hundred before lunch at Lord’s and my 100 at Lord’s this year took almost an entire day.”
“But more seriously, Sir Don played just five Tests against India; that was in the first India-Australia series in 1947-48, which was to be his last season at home. He didn’t even play in India, and remains the most venerated cricketer in India not to have played there.”
“We know that he set foot in India though, in May 1953, when on his way to England to report on the Ashes for an English newspaper, his plane stopped in Calcutta airport. There were said to be close to a 1000 people waiting to greet him; as you know, he was a very private person and so got into an army jeep and rushed into a barricaded building, annoyed with the airline for having ‘breached confidentiality.’ That was all Indians of the time saw of Bradman who remains a mythical figure,” Dravid said.
Dravid spoke about how he read about Bradman through the cricket books and mentioned that he was very “pleased” that he shared something very important with Bradman.
“While there may be very little similarity in our records or our strike-rates or our fielding – and I can say this only today in front of all of you – I am actually pleased that I share something very important with Sir Don.”
“He was, primarily, like me, a No.3 batsman. It is a tough, tough job.”
“We’re the ones who make life easier for the kings of batting, the middle order that follows us. Bradman did that with a bit more success and style than I did. He dominated bowling attacks and put bums on seats, if I bat for any length of time I am more likely to bore people to sleep. Still, it is nice to have batted for a long time in a position, whose benchmark is, in fact, the benchmark for batsmanship itself,” once again Dravid beautifully wove-in fun to insights.
Dravid, who is fondly called “The Wall” for his resilient batting, proceeded to talk about cricket rivalry between India and Australia, and how he believed that the relations have improved after the controversial Test series in 2007-08. He thanked the Indian Premier League (IPL) which has helped mend the relations. He said Australian cricketers such as Shane Watson and Mike Hussey play in the IPL and they are “greatly appreciated back home.” He then poked fun at Shane Warne.
“Even Shane Warne likes India now. I really enjoyed playing alongside him at Rajasthan last season and can confidently report to you that he is not eating imported baked beans any more. In fact, looking at him, it seems he is not eating anything,” Dravid joked.
Dravid praised BCCI’s role in spreading cricket in the remotest parts of the country and how that initiative played a major role in creating quality cricketers.
Dravid said: “As the earnings from Indian cricket have grown in the past 2 decades, mainly through television, the BCCI has spread revenues to various pockets in the country and improved where we play. The field is now spread wider than it ever has been, the ground covered by Indian cricket, has shifted.”
“Twenty seven teams compete in our national championship, the Ranji Trophy. Last season Rajasthan, a state best known for its palaces, fortresses and tourism won the Ranji Trophy title for the first time in its history. The national one-day championship also had a first-time winner in the newly formed state of Jharkand, where our captain MS Dhoni comes from.”
“The growth and scale of cricket on our television was the engine of this population shift. Like Bradman was the boy from Bowral, a stream of Indian cricketers now come from what you could call India’s outback.”
“Zaheer Khan belongs to the Maharashtra heartland, from a town that didn’t have even one proper turf wicket. He could have been an instrumentation engineer but was drawn to cricket through TV and modelled his bowling by practising in front of the mirror on his cupboard at home, and first bowled with a proper cricket ball at the age of 17.”
“One day out of nowhere, a boy from a village in Gujarat turned up as India’s fastest bowler. After Munaf Patel made his debut for India, the road from the nearest railway station to his village had to be improved because journalists and TV crews from the cities kept landing up there.”
“We are delighted that Umesh Yadav didn’t become a policeman like he was planning and turned to cricket instead. He is the first cricketer from the central Indian first-class team of Vidarbha to play Test cricket.”
“Virender Sehwag, it shouldn’t surprise you, belongs to the Wild West just outside Delhi. He had to be enrolled in a college which had a good cricket programme and travelled 84kms every day by bus to get to practice and matches.”
“Every player in this room wearing an India blazer has a story like this. Here, ladies and gentlemen, is the heart and soul of Indian cricket.”
Dravid spoke on a clear roadmap for all three formats of cricket: ODIs, Twenty20 and Tests. He described Dravid as the pinnacle of the sport. He also encouraged proposals for day-night Tests and Test championship. He said that he played a First-Class match at Abu Dhabi earlier that year which was day-night and he enjoyed it.
“Test cricket is the gold standard, it is the form the players want to play. Test cricket deserves to be protected, it is what the world’s best know they will be judged by.”
Dravid’s speech truly showed how desperate he is for the sport to grow. A true gentleman of the gentleman’s game, Dravid also spoke like one.
That Australia series happened to be his last one in international cricket, as soon after India’s defeat Down Under, he retired from the sport.
