Rahul Dravid

Lore & Background

Dravid was born to a Marathi-speaking Brahmin family in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. His family later moved to Bangalore, Karnataka, where he was raised. His mother tongue is Marathi. Dravid's father, Sharad Dravid, worked for a company that produces jams and preserves, giving rise to the later nickname Jammy.

His mother, Pushpa, was a professor of architecture at the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering in Bangalore. Dravid has a younger brother named Vijay. He attended St. Joseph's Boys High School and earned a degree in commerce from St Joseph's College of Commerce. He was selected to India's national cricket team while working towards an MBA at the St Joseph's College of Business Administration.

He is fluent in Marathi, Kannada, English and Hindi. Dravid started playing cricket at the age of 12 and represented Karnataka at the under-15, the under-17, and the under-19 levels. Former cricketer Keki Tarapore first noticed Dravid's talent while coaching at a summer camp in the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Dravid scored a century for his school team.

He also played as wicket-keeper. Dravid made his Ranji Trophy debut in February 1991, while still attending college. Playing alongside future India teammates Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath against Maharashtra in Pune, he scored 82 runs in the match, which ended in a draw. He followed it up with a century against Bengal and three successive centuries after.

Dravid's first full season took place in 1991–92, when he scored two centuries and finished up with 380 runs at an average of 63.30, resulting in his selection to the South Zone cricket team in the Duleep Trophy. Dravid caught the national team selectors' attention with his positive performances for India A in the home series against England A in 1994–95.

Reader's Guide

Dravid received his first call to the Indian national cricket team in October 1994 for the last two matches of the Wills World Series. However, he could not break into the playing eleven and had to return to the domestic circuit. Despite a stellar show in domestic cricket, Dravid was not selected for the Indian team for the 1996 World Cup. He eventually made his international debut on 3 April 1996 in an ODI against Sri Lanka in the Singer Cup held in Singapore immediately after the 1996 World Cup, replacing Vinod Kambli.

He scored only three runs before being dismissed by Muttiah Muralitharan, but took two catches in the match. He followed it up with another failure in the next game, scoring only four runs before being run out against Pakistan. His Test debut was rather successful. He was selected for the Indian squad touring England on the backdrop of a consistent performance in domestic cricket for five years.

He finally made his Test debut at Lord's on 20 June 1996 against England in the Second Test of the series at the expense of injured senior batsman Sanjay Manjrekar. Coming in to bat at no. 7, he forged important partnerships, first with another debutant Sourav Ganguly and then with Indian lower order, securing a vital first innings lead for his team. Dravid scored 95 runs missing out on a debut hundred as he walked off after getting caught behind to a Chris Lewis delivery.

During this match, he also took his first catch in Test cricket to dismiss Nasser Hussain off the bowling of Srinath. In the next tour game against British Universities, Dravid scored a hundred. He scored another fifty in the first innings of the Third Test. Dravid concluded a successful debut series with an average of 62.33 from two Test matches.

Dravid's early years in international cricket mirrored his international debut. He had contrasting fortunes in the long and the shorter format of the game. While he was successful in Test cricket, he struggled with ODIs. After his Test debut in England, Dravid played in the one-off Test against Australia in Delhi – his first Test in India.

Batting at no. 6, he scored 40 runs in the first innings. Dravid batted at no. 3 position for the first time in the First Test of the three-match home series against South Africa in Ahmedabad in November 1996. He failed to perform well in the series, scoring only 175 runs at an average of 29.16.

Did You Know?

• He was the first non-Australian cricketer to deliver the Bradman Oration in Canberra.
• He holds the records for the most balls faced in Test cricket and the longest time spent batting in Tests.