Rahul Dravid is one of those few cricketers in the world who have no haters. He is among the most loved personalities of cricket. Dravid is regarded as one of the most humble cricketers in the world. At present, he is in the news because he is the Head Coach of the Indian cricket team which is on the tour of Sri Lanka under the captaincy of Shikhar Dhawan. We all know about the records and performances by Rahul Dravid for India in international cricket but what you might not be aware about is the fact that Rahul Dravid has played for Scotland cricket team in the past. Scotland cricket Rahul Dravid In this article, we will tell you Why Rahul Dravid played for Scotland.
Rahul Dravid is not just loved for his performances in India cricket team but his legacy also goes beyond the cricket pitch. Considered as one of the greatest batsmen of all-time, Dravid is a role model for young cricketers around the world. He is a player who has eagerly taken many challenges in his cricketing career. One of the famous challenge was at the time when Dravid decided to play for the Scotland cricket team. Many fans are now aware about this incident and might be wondering that Why Rahul Dravid played for Scotland.
Which year did Rahul Dravid play for Scotland?
Popularly known as “The Wall“, Rahul Dravid played for the Scotland national team in the year 2003 after the conclusion of ICC World Cup 2003. Australia defeated India in the final of 2003 World Cup.
Why did Rahul Dravid play for Scottish national team?
Rahul Dravid was the top scorer in in the the 1999 World cup. He scored 461 runs in 8 matches with an average of 65.86. However he missed the award of player of the tournament to Lance Klusener for his all-around performance.
Rahul Dravid was also a key player for Indian team in 2003 World Cup. He scored 318 runs from the 11 matches with an average of 63.60.He played a vital role in helping India to reach the finals of the tournament, where they were eventually beaten by Australia.
After the World Cup, some senior members of the team were given a break from international cricket. At that time, Scotland were promoted to the Second Division of the National Cricket League for a trial period of three years and the Scottish Cricket Union wanted an Indian cricketer to improve the cricket of their team.
Gwynne Jones, the Chief Executive of the Scottish Cricket Union initiated talks with the coach of India, John Wright. He was looking for a Indian superstar who would boost the confidence of Scotland players and also set the right standards in the Scotland national team’s dressing room. The fist choice of Jones was the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. Jones wanted Sachin to join Scotland Saltires. But John Wright offered Rahul Dravid to the Scotland team who were going to play in the English County’s National League.
Dravid agreed to this and was finally signed and given a 45,000-pound contract for three months with Scottish team. At that time, Dravid was newly married to Vijeta. He was accompanied by his wife on the tour to Scotland.
Rahul Dravid played 11 of the 12 games for Scotland in the National League. He scored an impressive 600 runs at an average of 66.66. He was the top scorer for Scotland in the tournament. But, even with his classy performance, his team managed to win just one match in twelve games.
Currently, Dravid is in the headlines and fans want to see him in the role of Head Coach for the senior Indian Men’s Team – a responsibility currently with Ravi Shastri.
Rahul Dravid made his international debut on June 20, 1996, against England. He scored a brilliant 95 runs. He played his last test match in Australia on Jan 28th,2012, after which he took retirement from all international cricket formats. Dravid is the second top scorer in test matches for India after Sachin and fourth in the world. Dravid has scored 36 centuries in tests and 12 centuries in ODIs.
Why Rahul Dravid is known as the wall?
Rahul Dravid has faced the maximum number of deliveries in Test Cricket. In 286 Test innings, Dravid has played 31,258 balls which is record. Dravid’s capability of defending the wicket is unmatched so far.
Another reason as to why this nickname was given to Dravid is because of the innings against Pakistan in 2004. He scored 270 runs playing for more than 12 hours, which is the longest by an Indian batsman in Test history.
