The sojourn which started in 1996

has come to an end

He has been the unsung hero

but his compatriots have called him most dependable

He gave rock solid stable “wall”

standing amidst the ruins on foreign soils

He held the fort on green top

craving few of India’s biggest victories

7690 runs in test have come while playing outside India

He has hit 21 tons on foreign soils

His 95 was overshadowed in Lords

180 in Kolkata was diminutioned

128 in Lahore was outshined

144 in Guyana was overpowered

but jammy went on piling runs and even more runs

without hogging the limelight

His rise in tests was not meteoric

but established as a vanguard of resurgent Team India

His greatness lies in what his performances have meant to the team

The best of them have been seen as match saving/winning

Who doubted his ODI capability

also got befitting reply scoring over 10k runs in format

The Team Man he was is an example to follow

The respect which he commanded

took the challenges when demanded

Be it wicket keeping or opening the innings

He was there doing his duty without uttering a word

God willing he was successful too

His records accords to the stature of the player he was

Few will make best to toil to reach there

There is no comparison of greats

but whenever one will look back

You will realize that it was

one person who made all the differences

Rahul Sharad Dravid

The Wall has finally toppled

but he will surely be missed

for his kind of cricketer on and off the field

is becoming rarer

The master himself said that

There was and will be only one Dravid.

Take this as my tribute to the most ardent lover of the game who kept it very simple by “trying.”

His records are perhaps too much to be accomodated in few lines.

My best wishes to you Rahul in all your future endeavours!