Rahul Dravid

Profile:

Ever since he burst upon the scene at Lord's in 1996, Rahul Dravid has been one of the main pillars of the Indian batting with his blend of technical proficiency and stylish strokes. In a side bristling with dashing batsmen, he has frequently played the sheet-anchor role to perfection. His style of batting was once regarded as too slow for the one-day game, but in his new role as a wicketkeeper/batsman, he has become one of the key players of the Indian one-day side. Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly has even gone on record as saying that 'keeper Dravid is his man for the World Cup. The World Cup, incidentally, has been a stage where Dravid has revelled. In the 1999 edition of the premier one-day championship, he ended up with two hundreds and the highest aggregate, a feat which led to his being named the Wisden cricketer of 2000.

For sheer consistency, Dravid has few equals and has maintained a Test career average of over 50. His temperament is exemplary and his concentration legendary. A batsman who revels in a crisis, Dravid, against New Zealand in January 1999, joined Vijay Hazare and Sunil Gavaskar as one of only three Indians to have scored a century in each innings in a Test. The poor run in Australia in 1999-2000 was only a passing phase and he returned to top form the next season, most memorably notching up his first double century in Tests. His promotion as vice-captain was widely acclaimed.