Dravid, not Sachin, should be the benchmark for success

In a normal world, Rahul Dravid would be the man walking into any International XI, being hailed as one of the living legends of cricket and getting reams written about him by fawning aficionados. And, yes, they would find something more imaginative to describe him — the current epithet, ‘The Wall’, does no justice to the man, the persona and his skills. Of course, he won’t be called Superman or God or Magician. The epithets would be more sober, more down to earth like the man himself. Despite his achievements he would be an ordinary mortal, but just a shade beyond the reach of others. He would be an ideal benchmark for budding cricketers. His technique, poise and determination would be difficult to emulate, but are still achievable. He won’t create abnormal expectations. He belongs to the world of the normal. [caption id=“attachment_75889” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Dravid lives in a cricket age that is much more disturbed but he is the touch of the normal in a rather abnormal world. AFP”]  [/caption] Unlike Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag. Both are exceptional talents, not a shade of doubt there. Players like them are not made in cricket’s nurseries. They are born - maybe once in many decades. Their records speak for themselves. Commentators often speak about players being gifted. Sachin and Sehwag are gifted many times over. Epithets like ‘God’ and ‘Magician’ are a tribute to those superhuman qualities they posses. But that is where the problem comes in. They raise the bar too high. It is not easy to emulate the duo. Even the most brilliant of coaches will not be able dissect Sachin’s skills and transplant these in either parts or as a whole in their wards. Sehwag’s amazing hand-eye coordination is his exclusive asset. It does not come with training. Thus, as far as setting benchmarks go, both are in the realm of the unattainable. Both make being a batsman look so easy. But batting, as thousands of players would vouch, is never that easy. It is always an equal game between the bat and the ball out there - the equation changes when Sachin and Sehwag are around though. When budding cricketers across India worship both and tie up batting pads expecting to bat like them, the ambition is a bit too high. It is one thing to see the heroes make their bats talk and it’s quite another to imitate the act. The heroes make it look easy, their followers think it is easy. It’s huge gap between the two. Many young talents are losing their natural abilities chasing the impossible. Coaches lament that youngsters now-a-days are in a hurry to get into big shots without focusing on the grammar of the game. They no more value the sense of application, patience and correctness of technique as essential virtues that have to be imbibed earlier on. Shorter versions of the game like Twenty20 and even One-Day matches have taken the focus off the fundamentals. The glamour of big shots is eating away the craving for a long innings and the hunger for big runs. India’s miserable performance against England in the recently concluded Test series exposed the poor skills of the GenNext of Indian cricket at handling moving and bouncing deliveries. It also revealed their inability to stay at the wicket under difficult conditions. Mind you, this the best lot among the new generation of cricketers. Blame it on the circumstances of present day cricket but spare a thought for players two generations later. With the circumstances remaining the same, would we have decent Test cricketers around a decade later? Things don’t look bright at all. That should make us think about making the normal the rule rather than the exception. A young batsman with sufficient dedication can aspire to be a Rahul Dravid, which is good enough, but not a Sachin or a Sehwag. Someone even coming close to him would be a Test asset. The benchmark in the case of Dravid is high but not high enough to be unattainable. Gavaskar was a legend but someone could aspire to be the next Gavaskar. He belonged to the normal world. Dravid lives in a cricket age that is much more disturbed but he is the touch of the normal in a rather abnormal world. He should be the example for budding cricketers to follow. Simply because he is not God, he is an ordinary mortal like any of us.