Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble practice wares as different as chalk and cheese. Their crafts aren’t moulded in the same manner either. While Dravid is a classic copybook batsman, Kumble is an unorthodox practitioner of leg-spin. There is, however, a common thread that connects the two like few others. They both hail from Karnataka, both made their international debut against England in England, both have endured more than their share of ups and downs in their careers like few have in their class and both enjoy the status of being the greatest match winners for India in Test cricket.

What the duo has lacked in flair, it has more than made up for it with substance. As a batsman, Dravid has won more number of matches than any batsman, Sachin Tendulkar included. Kumble, without a shadow of doubt, is the best match-winner for India compared to any batsman or bowler. They might have mastered the art of winning matches, but the twosome, closer to the end of their illustrious careers than the beginning, still have to learn how to win accolades. They probably never will. Not that they are ever going to regret that even for a moment, but it is a sad commentary on Indian cricket that batsmen and bowlers of limited talent and far less performances to show for have been able to attract more attention than Dravid and Kumble. That, however, hasn't deterred them a bit. They have gone about their job with religious zeal and childlike enthusiasm, leaving in the wake indelible footprints.

Another milestone

Close on the heels of Kumble’s 600-wicket mark in Australia, Dravid broke the 10000-run barrier in Test cricket when he reached 80 during the course of his brilliant 111 against South Africa in the first Test in Chennai. In doing so, the 35-year-old became only the sixth batsman in Test history to have brought up the five-figure score placing him in the exalted company of Sunil Gavaskar, Allan Border, Steve Waugh, Brian Lara and Tendulkar.
As mind-boggling as the number may appear, Dravid’s similar feat in the one-dayers can’t be, as the batsman himself put it, more surreal. Only Tendulkar and Lara had the distinction of having achieved the rare double. For someone who was branded and then banished as a batsman suited only for the longer version of the game, 10,000 is not a bad number at all, is it? That Dravid coasted to the coveted mark first in the one-dayers, long before he emulated the act in Tests is a testimony to his ability to see adversity in its face. Forced to keep wickets to retain his place in the one-dayers, Dravid emerged as one of the best finishers in the shorter format of the game. “Definitely getting 10000 runs in one-dayers was special. Starting out as a particular kind of player and adapting to the one-day game, batting in different positions, learning the one-day skills. I had to change, adapt, do different things… That gave me a lot of satisfaction," he admitted.

‘Tests been tougher’

Typically of him though the former captain placed his Test numbers above the ones he got in one-dayers. “You will always cherish your Test performances a bit more than the one-day ones. Because you know the 10,000 you got in Test cricket has probably been a bit tougher.”

Dravid may not be the most talented batsman India has produced. Sunil Gavaskar and his fellow Karnataka stalwart Gundappa Viswanath probably were more gifted and Tendulkar is a better package. Few, however, can rival the way the Bangalorean has maximised his potential in emerging as one of India’s best and an all-time great in the world. By sheer combination of grit and determination, the stylish batsman has scaled one peak after another without much fuss.

Just to back up that claim, let’s take a further a peak at some of his other significant Test numbers. Dravid has more double tons (five) than any other Indian, has better average (73.88) in the matches won by India than any of his compatriots and more importantly, Dravid averages better outside of India — a telling reflection of his ability to cope with pace better than any of his contemporary team-mates. In the process, Dravid even pipped Tendulkar as the best Indian batsman and that’s saying something.

“When I look back, I think I probably exceeded my own expectations with what I have done over the last 10-12 years,” he remarked.

The last year was reminiscent of the times he went through during his initiation into international career when he was dropped from the ODI side. In fact, the period he went through in the last six months was worse because it not only saw him relinquish captaincy and lose his one-day place, but suffer one of the worst patches in Test cricket. Dravid, who was the fastest to 9000 runs in the world, had to wait for 30 more Tests to bring up his last 1000 runs. “I had to work pretty hard from 9000 to 10000. In some ways, it was a sign for me to learn to enjoy these things, learn to reflect on these moments. In some ways, the last 1000 has been a learning curve for me," he reflected.

Despite not being in the best of forms, Dravid, just to accommodate an in-form batsman in the playing XI, agreed to open the innings in Australia when no one wanted to take up the responsibility, epitomising his commitment to the team's cause. His struggles, not totally unexpected though, at the top of the order left one wondering where his career was heading. The on-going home series against South Africa was a perfect chance for Dravid to turn the clock back and the right-hander, by carving out his 25th Test ton in the first Test, indicated that everything was right with India’s batting machine.