Custom Bats Cricket Forum
General Cricket => Players => Topic started by: Buzz on June 28, 2011, 08:51:42 AM
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This is on Cricinfo today and I think it is worth a read...
Dravid and the art of defence India's No. 3 is a living testament to the idea that you need application and will more than talent to succeed in sport
Sanjay Manjrekar - June 28, 2011
The pitch at Sabina Park was challenging and the Test match was in the balance, but Rahul Dravid would agree that a more experienced bowling attack would have tested him more. Dravid's 151 Tests against the 69 of the West Indian bowlers combined was always going to be a mismatch. But while this was not one of his best hundreds by any stretch of the imagination, it was an important one nevertheless, given the stage his career is at. And it allows us dwell a bit on the Dravid success story as he completes 15 years in international cricket.
To start with, success does not come as easily to Dravid as it seems to do to others: you get the feeling that he has had to work at it a little more.
I believe Dravid can be a more realistic batting role model for young Indian batsmen than a Tendulkar, Sehwag or VVS Laxman, for Dravid is the least gifted on that list. While Tendulkar is a prodigious, rare talent, Dravid's basic talent can be found in many, but what he has made of it is the rare, almost unbelievable, Dravid story. That you don't need to have great talent to become a sportsman is reinforced by Dravid's achievements over the last 15 years. And that he is now an all-time Indian batting great highlights his speciality: his ability to over-achieve. Indeed, he would have probably have performed beyond his talent in any profession of his choosing. Indian cricket is fortunate that he chose it.
For a batsman of his nature and skills, that he ended up playing 339 one-day internationals, and still contributes to his IPL team in Twenty20, shows his strength of mind. It is a mindset that sets almost unreasonably high goals for his talents to achieve and then wills the body on to achieve them.
Dravid is a defensive batsman who has made it in a cricket world that fashions and breeds attacking batsmen. If he had played in the '70s and '80s, life would have been easier for him. Those were times when a leave got nods of approval and admiration from the spectators.
Dravid has played the bulk of his cricket in an era when defensive batting is considered almost a handicap. This is why it is rare to see a defensive batsman come through the modern system. Young batsmen with a defensive batting mindset choose to turn themselves into attacking players, for becoming a defensive player in modern cricket is not considered a smart choice.
Not to say that Dravid has been all defensive, though. He has one shot that is uncommon in a defensive Indian batsman: the pull. It is a superb instinctive stroke against fast bowling, and it is a stroke Dravid has had from the outset; a shot that has bailed him out of many tight situations in Tests.
When I saw him at the start of his career, I must confess Dravid's attitude concerned me. As young cricketers, we were often reminded to not think too much - and also sometimes reprimanded by our coaches and senior team-mates for doing so. Being a thinker in cricket, it is argued, makes you complicate a game that is played best when it is kept simple. I thought Dravid was doing precisely that: thinking too much about his game, his flaws and so on. I once saw him shadow-playing a false shot that had got him out. No problem with that, everyone does it. Just that Dravid was rehearsing the shot at a dinner table in a restaurant! This trait in him made me wonder whether this man, who we all knew by then was going to be the next No. 3 for India, was going to over-think the game and throw it all away. He reminded me a bit of myself.
He has not committed the folly of being embarrassed about grinding when everyone around him is attacking and bringing the crowd to their feet. Once he is past 50, he resists the temptation to do anything different to quickly get to the next stage of the innings
Somewhere down the line, much to everyone's relief, I think Dravid managed to strike the right balance. He seemed to tone down the focus on his mistakes, and the obsession over his game and his technique, and started obsessing over success instead. Judging from all the success he has had over the years, I would like to think that Dravid, after his initial years, may have lightened up on his game. Perhaps he looks a lot more studious and intense on television to us than he actually is out there.
Dravid has to be the most well-read Indian cricketer I have come across, and it's not just books about cricket or sports he reads. I was surprised to discover that he had read Freedom at Midnight, about the partition of India, when he was 24. Trust me, this is very rare for a cricketer at that age. You won't find a more informed current cricketer than him - one who is well aware of how the world outside cricket operates.
Most of us cricketers develop some understanding of the world only well after we have quit the game. Until then, though experts of the game, we remain naïve about lots of things. I think this awareness of the outside world has helped Dravid put his pursuit of excellence in the game of his choice in perspective. At some point in his career he may have come to accept that cricket is just a sport and not a matter of life and death - even if he seemed prepared to work at it like it was.
Life isn't that easy, as I have said, for a defensive batsman in this age, when saving runs rather than taking wickets is the general approach of teams. A defensive batsman's forte is his ability to defend the good balls and hit the loose ones for four. But with bowlers these days often looking to curb batsmen with very defensive fields, batting becomes a bit of a struggle for players like Dravid.
It is a struggle he is content with, though. He has not committed the folly of being embarrassed about grinding when everyone around him is attacking and bringing the crowd to their feet. He is quite happy batting on 20 when his partner has raced to 60 in the same time. Once he is past 50, he seems to get into this "mental freeze" state, where it does not matter to him if he is stuck on 80 or 90 for an hour; he resists the temptation to do anything different to quickly get to the next stage of the innings. It is a temptation that many defensive batsmen succumb to after hours at the crease, when the patience starts to wear, and there is the temptation to hit over the infield, for example, to get a hundred. Dravid knows this is something that Sehwag can get away with, not him.
He has resisted that impulse and has developed the mind (the mind, again) to enjoy the simple task of meeting ball with bat, even if it does not result in runs, and he does this even when close to a Test hundred. The hundred does come eventually, and after it does, the same discipline continues - in that innings and the next one. A discipline that has now got him 12,215 runs in Test cricket.
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Absolutely spot on, in an era of attacking batsmen Dravid has been at the top with one of the soundest defensive techniques. Jacque Kallis comes to mind as the other batsman with a similar mindset and a stalwart for his country over a long period. Both have been the mentally strongest batsmen of the last 10 years.
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That's a really good read what a remarkable batsmen he has been
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/8691916/Tanya-Aldred-we-will-miss-Test-match-specialist-Rahul-Dravid-his-duel-with-Shane-Warne-was-thrilling.html
Worth five minutes of your time...
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My favourite Indian batsman. Always been a fan of the "underdog", and with Sachin, Laxman, Ganguly and Sehwag in the side, Dravid always stood out for me as someone who, ironically, doesn't stand out. You barely notice their work. He'll creep along to 50 before you know it. Always wonderful to watch as well, crisp cover driver, neat, wristy flicks through leg, and cutting the spinners like a dream.
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Dravid will be missed more than Tendulkar when he finally goes, one of the few Indian players that is a genuine champion on and off the field.
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Just randomly - I was wondering, does anyone know what weight of bat Dravid uses? I am expecting the responses to be about 2lbs 7... but was interested
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I think 2lb 7oz too. its not big by any stretch of the imagination. Could even be lighter as he seems to use his wrists in everyshot, even his pick up. Off topic, azzurradin used to use a 2lb 6oz-source ajit from matrixx
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The bat I saw with RSD during the nets before the T20 at Old Trafford felt more like 2lb8oz/2lb9oz. Not big (possibly the smallest in profile to the rest of the team) and pretty by any stretch of imagination. The balance and pick-up was simply amazing. The fact that he is mostly a defensive player and a timer of the ball was very visible from the discoloration of the sweet spot on his bat (same with VVS). Had 4-5 bats in his bag. Two of his bats were ugly ducklings. Here on the forum they would have not sold for £50. The bat sued in T20 was 2.10 though and he made good use of it hitting Samit for sixes (very unlike RSD)
Likes thin handles as he has relatively small hands and also wear batting inners (the only in the current Indian team). Anyone knows any other current cricketer who wears batting inners?
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[url]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/8691916/Tanya-Aldred-we-will-miss-Test-match-specialist-Rahul-Dravid-his-duel-with-Shane-Warne-was-thrilling.html[/url]
Worth five minutes of your time...
Mentions the epic India vs Aus test from 2001 - arguably the greatest turnaround/most unexpected result seen in my lifetime. 8)
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Likes thin handles as he has relatively small hands and also wear batting inners (the only in the current Indian team). Anyone knows any other current cricketer who wears batting inners?
I'm pretty sure Michael Clarke does from memory - watching him pull his gloves off in frustration everytime he was out in the Ashes...
(http://cache1.asset-cache.net/xc/136158570.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=77BFBA49EF87892155F29F61288AC1CAB4AD66C88A1B041351B2151E04EE586D069EE4F543C58F4A)
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On topic, Dravid has been bowled in three times in the first two Tests of this series. Still a great player, but does this suggest he's waning after a wonderful "indian" summer in England?
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Likes thin handles as he has relatively small hands and also wear batting inners (the only in the current Indian team). Anyone knows any other current cricketer who wears batting inners?
I think mike hussey does as well. ???
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On topic, Dravid has been bowled in three times in the first two Tests of this series. Still a great player, but does this suggest he's waning after a wonderful "indian" summer in England?
I think he is shattered after carring the team when there are so many superstars who aren't scoring runs.
that Dhoni hasn't had a breakdown astonishes me.
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yvk3103 did you manage to pick up anybody elses bat?
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On topic, Dravid has been bowled in three times in the first two Tests of this series. Still a great player, but does this suggest he's waning after a wonderful "indian" summer in England?
statsitically no - he's always had an unusually high percentage of bowled dismissals.
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yvk3103 did you manage to pick up anybody elses bat?
Rohit Sharma, Parthiv Patel, MSD and Raina.
MSD's bats are massive but had a light pick-up due to him putting 3 grips on it. I would say possibly 2.13 bat weight.
Raina's bats were too bottom heavy for my liking and probably explain his big hitting as he manages to get the fast pendulum movement.
Rohit's bats were class, sweet bats 2lb9oz and very very nice.
Parthiv Patel's bat was too big for him, said it was for T20 and he would use 2-3 oz lighter for 50 over or test.
I feel every cricketer i spoke to (except Rohit Sharma and the tail-enders) have bats with varign pick-up and weights and that explaing everyone carrying 5-7 bats in their kits.
Think Praveen Kumar, Munna (Munaf Patel) and another guy were using MSDs bats which he either weeded out from his kit or the guys just took it (as they say MSD is a sucker for bats) :) Raina picks up lot of MSD's bats from SG also.
Honestly, not many great looking bats, but all were performers and almost all the ones used had nice indentations on the blade (and edges), surface cracks and open grains.
Any guesses who carries the most bats in his kit in the current India team?
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statsitically no - he's always had an unusually high percentage of bowled dismissals.
Maybe because he plays late and close to his body and if there is late movement he is a goner?
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i would say either msd or kohli?
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i would say either msd or kohli?
MSD had 7-9 in his kit Raina has about 7, but some of MSD's bats can also be found in some lower order batsmans kit bag, so he technically carries 10+ bats.
Rohit had 4, wich seems to be a decent number for any cricketer.
Maybe the big hitters need more bats
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i think that the article proved to be the commentators curse for the wall.
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Found this on SG's facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=199853953440120
Looks like Dravid's bats weighed 2lb7.2oz's (1110 grams) for the recent test series against Australia
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Another video, this time about Sehwag:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150508450455563
Looks like he used a 2lb10.3oz bat throughout the series.