As I pen this down, my mind is gripped with mixed feelings. They say life can change in a moment, well, even if you get a sneak peak into that moment beforehand, it still falls heavy when it arrives. First love is always first love, & before I include any girl in this bracket, undoubtedly, cricket was my first crush, my first love. And it will be only fair to say that if cricket is my love, RAHUL SHARAD DRAVID…. You were clearly the cupid for me. I was mesmerized by this game because I was mesmerized by you
Today, the first thing I did upon waking up was to turn on the T.V. I never thought I would be so eager to watch a news channel first thing in the morning. But the occasion was different today, THE WALL was about to bid adieu today.
I had a slight apprehension of it a day before, when I saw the man on T.V. saying…. “I announce my retirement from international and domestic cricket.” For a moment, everything else was forgotten. I could have easily expressed my feelings through a status, a DRAVID profile picture or even a tweet, my words were supposedly not short enough. I fondly remember the days when I woke up early in the mornings at 6, or watched the whole day of a test match, if Rahul Dravid was batting.
2004, January, India V/s Australia, 2nd test, Adeliade. At the end of DAY 3, Dravid was not out on 199*, I instructed my father to wake up as early as possible the next day, for I did not want to miss his double century, & I still remember the sweet words from my father when I was in the bed at 5.45 am, “BETA, TERE DRAVID KI DOUBLE CENTURY HO GAYI !!”. Down the years, my fondness for this legend only grew & it became evident to the ones around me. Playing defence after defence while playing with friends prompted them to call me DRAVID, sometimes even sarcastically, but deep down my heart, I always liked being called so. When the IPL began, the first match, Brendon McCullum smashed 158* against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Dravid’s team, & RCB was all out for 82.
My class mates teased me when we were talking about our favourite teams in the IPL, & I said RCB, without a thought. After that first match IPL 1, my friends even laughed at me more for being a RCB supporter. But that was nothing for me.
The most expressive moment I can recall is that of 2008, October, when DRAVID was going through a lean patch. I was in Class X, had a Maths exam coming up. It was a Sunday afternoon, the 4th test between India & Australia at Nagpur, 2nd innings. I was glued to Neo Cricket just because he was batting, but not that he was scoring heavily then, infact as I said above, he was not in the best of form. He fought hard for 30 odd balls for 5 runs, but I was okay as long as he was there, I was happily solving questions from my Maths book. Then he got out for 5….. 1 minute later, the TV was switched off. I was no longer interested in studying, I threw everything my hand could grab at, some of my pens really bore the brunt of my anger.
The next series against England, 2nd test match, Mohali. The first thing I did after coming back home from school was to turn on the TV & check the score. He had failed in the 1st test as well, but on that Friday, when I tuned on the TV, my eyes lit up. Dravid was 50*. I watched every ball till he got his century the next day, a big one- 136.
Likewise, there are innumerable experiences where a good performance form him made my dull day the best day of my life. There were also moments when his failure on the field overpowered my happiness through the day. His ouster from the ODI team in 2007, recall in 2009, out again, & back again in 2011. My mood went through the extremes. My IPL royalty shifted from Bangalore to Rajasthan Royals when he was signed by RR.
Its difficult to imagine that I won’t see anymore of him now. The word RETIREMENT has finally arrived. But, I am happy for the man. He is currently he oldest international payer to be playing cricket, at the age of 39 years. Not many managed to go that distance. He did. Though I still have some excerpts of him to witness in IPL 5, but that is just a consolation. I feel, the ending could have been a bit more sweeter, but life has his own ways. In the end, I am happy for him, he can finally spend the time with his loved ones, there was nothing much he could still achieve.
BUT DEAR RAHUL DRAVID, for me, cricket will never be the same as before. When next time India play a test match, & the first wicket falls, it will be hard to digest the fact that you won’t be coming out to bat. I doubt if I will glue to the TV sets to watch an entire day of test cricket again. The no. 3 position will be different now. 9 MARCH’2012 will be a date to remember.
To sum up, I would use your own words to express myself as well……… "I leave with sadness but also with pride."
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