5 Indian cricketers in the ICC Hall of Fame

#5 Rahul Dravid

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Rahul Dravid needs no introduction. He is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the game of cricket and a thorough gentleman on the field. With a career lasting for as long as 16 years, Rahul Dravid has broken many records in his playing days and is the latest entrant in the ICC Hall of Fame.

Rahul Dravid made his Test debut for India in the year of 1996 against England at Lords. He caught the eye of many with a brilliant 95 on debut against a potent England bowling attack.

He continued his good form against South Africa in South Africa, where he notched up his maiden Test century in Johannesburg. He was the best batsman for Team Indian in the West Indies series that followed after, where he scored 360 runs in the 5 match series that India lost 1-0.

Rahul Dravid struggled in the limited overs format in the years between 1996-98, however, his real break came in the 1999 World Cup in England, where he was the highest scorer with 461 runs with 2 centuries in 8 games at an outstanding average of 65.85.

Rising through the ranks, Rahul Dravid was instrumental in the famous win against Australia at the Eden Gardens in the year 2001. He along with VVS Laxman put on a monumental 376 runs for the 6th wicket. India went on to win the Test match and won the series 2-1 with a win the 3rd Test at Chennai.

Dravid continued his splendid run of form scoring 602 runs in the 4-match Test series against England that helped India level the series 1-1. He was also instrumental in India’s finest Test win against Australia at Adelaide, where he scored 233. Dravid’s 270 against Pakistan, helped India win they're first ever Test series against Pakistan in their soil.

Rahul Dravid captained India to Test series win in West Indies and England from 2006-07. However, a poor World Cup in 2007 led to him giving up the captaincy. In the 2011 tour of England, Rahul Dravid scored 461 runs in the 4 match series but couldn’t help India prevent the whitewash. He retired from the One-Dayers on the same tour, where he scored 69 against England in his final ODI at Cardiff.

After a poor Test series against Australia in 2012, Rahul Dravid announced his retirement from International Cricket. He continued to mentor Rajasthan Royals in IPL and is currently the head coach of U19 Indian Cricket Team.

Rahul Dravid holds many records, including being the 4th highest run scorer in Test Cricket to being the only player to score a Test century in all Test-playing countries. He also holds the record for playing the most number of balls (44152) in Test Cricket.

Rahul Dravid was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the year of 2018.