Dravid and Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar has sheer genius within him. For over fifteen years, he has carried the burden of a nation of cricket maniacs (almost) single handedly on his shoulders. I have never ceased to be amazed at the level of maturity, confidence and responsibility that he has displayed through the years in handling the bouquets and brickbats of the media, of the fans and a success starved nation. He has never let success and adulation go to his head or let his failures deter him from continuing to conquer opposition. Therein lies his greatness.

Tendlya, I bow to thee.

Rahul has oodles of talent within him as well. But, he has (rather, had) been the eternal bridesmaid. For the first few years of his career, he had always been in and out of the team, in spite of his performance and ability. The critics and gulli ke paan walas favored the heroics of Tendulkar or the brazenness of Ganguly (well, isn’t that history now?) to Dravid’s grafting and class, which they preferred to breathe fire on or scoff at. But, Rahul Sharad Dravid persevered, adapted, took on the fight, survived and is now among India’s greatest cricketers. Darwin, of course, was right!

Here’s to Rahul (and the twins…)!