As Rahul Dravid continues to showcase why he is an absolute icon within the cricketing fraternity. His Australian rival, Matthew Hayden hailed ‘The Wall’ for the grace and standards through which he has achieved success as both a player and a coach.
Hayden who was present during the recently concluded, CEAT Cricket Awards 2024, had spoken a few words for Dravid who was handed the ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award for his exploits during his playing and coaching career for the Indian Cricket Team.
The former Australian opening batter recalled some of his battles with Dravid, particularly the iconic partnership with VVS Laxman at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata where the two registered a 376-run stand to help set up a miraculous comeback win for India
“Sadly, from an Australian cricket point of view, it was the incredible partnership that he had up at Eden Gardens. There was nothing more sacred than that partnership with VVS Laxman. We walked onto the bus that day up in Kolkata and there was a fresh box of Cuban cigars Michael Slater said we’ll be smoking these at the end of the day and we’ll have retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy,” said Hayden as quoted by The Hindustan Times.
India was forced to follow on after the disastrous first-innings score of 171. Despite trailing by 276 runs, the mammoth partnership by Laxman and Dravid ensured that India had a big enough total on the board to help the come back in the game.
Hayden revealed that the Australian side at the time was dumbfounded by the resilience shown by Dravid and praised how he fought back at the time and also the example he set as a player and as a leader.
“Well, you had something to say about that batting all day with VVS Laxman in an extraordinary partnership. Obviously, the one in Adelaide as well was just something else. Under pressure, Australia put everything on the line against Rahul and did it with great grace, great composure, and always a great sense of fairness. In a game, which can tempt you to win at all costs Rahul Dravid won on the principles of cricket and the principles of life,” he concluded.
Dravid went on to be one of India’s iconic batters as a player and most recently he helped Team India witness one of their most dominant periods in history, with him as the Head Coach of the side which went on to win the T20 World Cup 2024 title.
Now ‘The Wall’ embarks on a new chapter in life as he returns to his former Indian Premier League franchise, the Rajasthan Royals as the Head Coach ahead of the 2025 season.
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