Five successful Indian cricketers in county cricket

1. Rahul Dravid (Kent)

Arguably one of India’s greatest ever batsmen to have played at No. 3 in Test cricket, Rahul Dravid also benefited well from the time he spent at Kent in 2000. A man who was keenly aware of his travails in the ODI arena, the soft-spoken future India captain had just come off a successful World Cup campaign in 1999, where he scored 461 runs.

At Canterbury, Dravid achieved recognition for both his calm approach and the capacity to stay out in the middle for long periods of time while scoring runs by the bucketful. His off-side play also improved during the limited-overs segment of the County Championship, and he was at his immaculate best in the longer version as well.

Hampshire’s Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne, who had named Dravid as the one batsman against whom he had the psychological advantage, was made to eat his words as the Indian stalwart hammered 137 and 73 not out in order to steer Kent to a six-wicket win over their opponents.

It was yet another example of Dravid’s complete mastery of English conditions since his 1996 Test debut at Lord’s. Since his county stint, Dravid went on to achieve greater heights in both forms of cricket, scoring heavily on India’s tours abroad. New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, England, West Indies – you name it, Dravid scored runs in it.

On India’s disastrous 2011 tour to England, the veteran batsman was the lone bright spot in the Test series, scoring 461 runs, finishing second behind Kevin Pietersen. Again, his county experience was a factor in his stellar performances as he was the only one who proved capable of handling the short-pitched deliveries well.

In the lightning-quick world of Twenty20, you may never see purity of technique or the gritty mindset all the time. But a visit to an English county, as these greats have shown, is more beneficial in the long run. Is the BCCI listening?