The Wall Was Never Loud, Just Always There

Let's do a character blog today. We are done with Kohli, but let's do another sports guy. I love Rahul Dravid actually. So let's go with his blog. Let's do this. 

Wow. I have failed at times, but I have never stopped trying. Like I said in the trying and trying till you succeed, Rahul Dravid over here talks about the fact that he's never stopped trying. He's always been that guy. There have been times where he has gone back to the pavilion with a score of 0. There have been times he has dropped catches. There has been times where he was relied on and he dropped the match. Oh well, but the point is that he's never stopped trying. He's always looked to give his best to the team and that's what makes him so valuable. I love that about Dravid. He's patient about most of the things in life and given his best to the team all the time. So Dravid also captained India and failed there. He captained Rajasthan Royals, failed there. But what's makes him so special is that he's never changed his character. There's aggression in his eyes and that's what makes him so brilliant and yet so humble. I feel like being humble and aggressive is the best combination one can have and that's what makes dravid so good. 

"My approach to cricket has been reasonably simple. It was about giving everything to the team, was about playing with dignity and it was about upholding the spirit of the game. I hope I have done justice to that." If you break down this thought. He says that his approach to cricket has been very simple. Firstly, you give everything to the team. If the team needs, you to bat at no.3 you do that. If the team needs a wicket keeper, you do that. If a team needs a captain, you do that. If the team needs anything, he was the person who would step up and do that. I have seen that watching the game all the time. Secondly, it was about upholding the spirit of the and the dignity of the game. I think what Dravid means here is that he never cheated and won the game. He always used and played within the rules. For the most part I have never seen Dravid sledging anyone. In fact, the moment someone sledges Dravid, he gives it back, but he has never initiated the sledging. I remember he gave a death stare to Shoaib Akhtar, and I was like Wow. Is that really Dravid? Wow. So so special. I love that. So the point of it all is that you keep things very simple about what matters and what does not. Have some clarity about it. 

This is one of my favourite quotes, for a career full of grace, charm, timing and poise. It was sad that it had to end with a slog. But, that was once again, what the team just needed. Hahaha damn. Look at how beautifully Bhogle speaks, a career full of grace, charm, timing and poise. Damn it ! It was certainly a career full of grace with Dravid. Charm, yes the way he played was charming for sure in my eyes. The timing, oh hell yes, the timing that Dravid had was exquisite and poise, certainly he walked with a poise. Ended in a slog. It means that it ended abruptly. But that was once again, what the team just needed. At the end of it all, the story does make sense because Dravid was all about doing what the team just needed. All the time, day in and day out. 

There is no substitute to taking a lot of catches as a youngster. If you want to do slip catching - you've got to catch, catch, catch. And more than doing the normal stuff, you have to vary your catching, you've got to take some catches with the tennis ball, you got to take some closer, some further away. Over here, he's in a way talking about practice. There's absolutely no substitute to the fact that you keep on taking catches. This is the importance of practice. If you want to do slip catching, you've got to catch, catch, catch. There's no end to it. Keep on practicing as much as possible with catching. That's what develops your reflexes. Then let's talk about the next stuff. He talks about varying the way you catch. Now, similarly, if you are practicing you need to practice things in different ways. Sometimes you practice BFS, sometimes you practice DFS, some with tennis ball, some with rubber ball, some with the hard ball. The practical way to implement this is that whatever you are doing in real life, you need a lot of practice to master it. Everything needs a lot of practice. 

One of my favourite quotes is this. All this going around is not aggression. If you want to see aggression on cricket field, look into Rahul Dravid's eyes. Hahaha. Hayden man. The beautiful part about this quote is the micro observation. We all think saying something is aggression. Triggering a reaction is aggression. However, real aggression comes out through the eyes. And that is what is there in Rahul Dravid. Haha, damn it ! This is who Dravid is. I feel like showing aggression through body language is so much better than just words. They say body language never lies. We keep showing our aggression through our eyes. 

Final thought: 

Rahul Dravid wasn’t just a cricketer. He was a masterclass in character. From the way he played to the way he walked off, everything about him said: consistency, humility, and quiet fire.

He taught us:

• That grace and grit can co-exist.

• That you don’t need to shout to be heard.

• That real aggression lies in how you show up every day, not in how loudly you speak.

He showed that it’s not about having one magical innings. It’s about showing up for your team—again, and again, and again. Even if you fail. Even if it’s not glamorous.

That’s Rahul Dravid.

And if you’re building a life, career, or team, channel your inner Dravid.