Rahul Dravid (Photo credit: Wikipedia)That's how Vijeeta, Rahul Dravid's wife, concludes her chapter 'My Husband The Perfectionist' in the book Timeless Steel, a compilation of articles written on him over the years by current and former cricketers, historians, journalists and, of course, Vijeeta herself.
At 39, most professionals get busy fine-tuning their careers and charting out plans on how to take it to the next level. There are a good 20-odd years still left to work it out, make the best of what you've been good at. That's the irony of being a professional sportsperson. At 39, Dravid is going through that phase right now.
All those years of perfecting the most elegant cover drive, cursing himself over a dropped catch, shedding a tear after painful defeats, exhaling in joy after a well-earned victory - they will all eventually be memories.
Timeless steel captures those memories of Dravid, the cricketer who doesn't mind confessing that he wasn't born with a 'special' kind of talent as much as he worked hard accumulating it.
Cricketer Akash Chopra, who worships the man as his hero, recounts an inspiring tale about how Dravid, who confessed to being, for the most part, an on-side player, worked hard on turning himself an equally adept batsman on the off-side.
Not only did he achieve the set goal, but in fact became one of cricket's outstanding off-side batsmen. "In cricket, as in life, it is not the most talented who survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones who are most responsive to change," writes Chopra. "Dravid's career was an eternal quest to get better."
And that is well mentioned at the back of this book, a telling statistical overhaul of Dravid's career that mentions 164 Test matches, 13,288 runs, 36 centuries (five double), an average of 52.31 and an equally stellar one-day record.
However, the one stat that sums up Dravid is not the above numbers but the number of balls he consumed - 46,563 - over a career that spanned fifteen-and-a-half years.
"If he decided to defend, there weren't many ways people who could get him out," writes former India coach John Wright. "He was called 'Jam' because his father worked for a jam company, but I felt a better name for him was 'Gem'. People trusted him."
At the book launch, Dravid was asked why he keeps repeating that he doesn't consider himself an exceptional talent despite the achievements. Dravid thought for a few seconds, and explained, "When I say talent, I mean batsmen like Vinod (Kambli), Sourav (Ganguly). Sourav was exceptionally talented on the off-side. When Vinod first played against Karnataka, he smashed Anil Kumble's first ball for a six. These were batsmen born with talent. I wasn't. I had to work for it. The talent, perhaps, was there but I knew I had to remain focused to achieve it. You're right, I was talented in my own way."
For those who want get a peek into the life of the monk who was sold out on cricket, this one's a must-read.
Edited By Cen Fox Post Team
