Happy Birthday Rahul Dravid: 'The Wall' of Indian Cricket Team turns 46

Lucknow: Fondly known as Mr. Dependable, and often referred to as The Great Wall or The Wall of Indian Cricket team, Rahul Dravid is celebrating his 46th birthday, today.

This Indore-born batsman played many astonishing knocks during his decorated 16-year-long career.

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With the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, Dravid was a permanent fixture in the Indian middle-order for years. During the 2000s, the 'fab four' of Indian Cricket used to be one of the best middle-orders in the world, especially in Tests.

Born on January 11, 1973, Dravid is currently serving the Indian team as the Overseas Batting Consultant and Head Coach of India Under-19 and India 'A' teams.

During his illustrated career in Test Cricket, Rahul Dravid represented the country in 164 Tests and scored 13,288 runs at a staggering average of 52.31. He scored 36 hundreds and 63 half-centuries with a highest score of 270 runs.

In his 286 Test innings, he never got out for a 'Golden Duck' (getting dismissed on the first ball faced in an inning).

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He also appeared in 344 One Day Internationals (ODIs) for India and scored 10,889 runs at a healthy average of 39.16. He also has 12 hundreds and 83 half-centuries in the shorter format of the game with 153 being his highest score.

He, however, could never establish an image of being a quick scorer of runs, but was widely regarded as the safest pair of hands in Indian slip cordon. He took 210 catches in Tests while 196 catches in ODI Cricket.

Apart from being one of the greatest cricketers in history, Rahul Dravid is also very much loved for his humble behavior despite being a superstar of Indian Cricket for so long.

He stunned everyone when denied the opportunity to coach the Indian national side to shape the career and technique of the young talents coming from all across the country in the Under-19 and India 'A' teams.

It would not be wrong to say that he is the first person to be credited for the amazingly talented 'bench-strength' of current Indian team which has most recently seen greatly confident and technically correct batsmen and some quick yet controlled bowlers making their debut for the Indian team.

Whenever, the Indian Cricket team seems to be in a situation of losing a match, Rahul Dravid is the name, which even today first strikes in our minds. This is the aura created by Dravid.

Many of the past and current team India members took to Twitter to wish Rahul Dravid on his 46th birth anniversary:

24,208 international runs.

48 centuries.

146 fifties.#U19CWC winning coach in 2018.

Happy birthday to India's Wall, the legendary Rahul Dravid! 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/mR5kFLqBXX

— ICC (@ICC) January 11, 2019

Wishing The Wall - Rahul Dravid a very Happy Birthday. His exploits in whites are well known but we thought we would relive one of his knocks in blue against Pakistan #HappyBirthdayRahulDravid pic.twitter.com/gJ1sgt6Ird

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 11, 2019

Happy birthday Jam..wish you all the happiness..keep continuing to flourish young talent under ur wings.. you are the best they can get..many great memories shared and many more to make #Thegreatwallofindia #legend #HappyBirthdayRahulDravid pic.twitter.com/Ha9GYvHQ9n

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) January 11, 2019

Happy Birthday Rahul bhai ! They call it a Gentleman's game because legends like you played it. Sharing the dressing room with you was a privilege & an honor that I'll never forget. Friend, mentor, captain & always #TheWall. Have a great year ahead!! #HappyBirthdayRahulDravid pic.twitter.com/1HOY2bYrC5

— Suresh Raina🇮🇳 (@ImRaina) January 11, 2019

Many more happy returns of the day to my dear friend Rahul. I wish him all the happiness and love and hope that he continues serving Indian Cricket and continues to inspire not just budding cricketers but the youth of the country. #HappyBirthdayRahulDravid pic.twitter.com/fzsQcy5D5I

— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) January 11, 2019

Happy birthday to 🇮🇳 legend, Rahul Dravid! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/oMq8Zqr5xz

— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) January 11, 2019

Deewaron ke bhi kaan hote hain , is deewar ka bahut saaf Mann aur hriday bhi hai!( #TheWall too has ears, this one has a pure mind and a heart as well)

A joy to have played with him and made so many wonderful memories together #HappyBirthdayRahulDravid ! pic.twitter.com/eukPvSx0II

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) January 11, 2019

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