More than a wall

When Rahul Dravid walked back to the Lord's pavilion after making a polished 95 on debut, most pundits were willing to accept that India had uncovered a splendid batting talent. Few, however, would have imagined that almost ten years later he would have taken over the mantle of India's most valuable batsman. As he stands on the threshold of his 100th Test, Dravid's numbers bear testimony to just how incredible a batsman he is.

The stats are extremely impressive - a career average of 58, with 63 fifty-plus scores in 99 matches, an average of more than 48 against all teams except South Africa (39.47), an away average which is 11 runs better than his rate at home, a fourth innings average of 50 ...

The feature of Dravid's batting over the years has been his orthodoxy. Bowl him a good ball, and he will defend; bowl him another, and he will do exactly the same. He'll happily wage the war of attrition, till you slip one too short or too full, too wide or too straight, and he'll then help himself to a few. Before going back into defensive mode once again. The graphic below shows why he will never make it into the top 50 list of most destructive batsman - he scores at two an over against good-length deliveries - but his limitless patience means that against most bowlers he wins the battle. (Numbers exclude the one-off Super Test.)

So who are the bowlers who have come out on top against him? Looking at Cricinfo's ball-by-ball stats since September 2001, the only three bowlers who have dominated him have been ones who, like Dravid, are known for their discipline and patience. Glenn McGrath and Shaun Pollock have clearly had the better of Dravid with their ability to bowl in the channel ball after ball, over after over, while Jason Gillespie did that quite effectively too till he suddenly lost his bite during last year's Ashes; the rest have come out second best.

Dravid's numbers compare very impressively with the all-time greats too. Among No.3 batsmen with at least 3000 runs, only four have a higher average, while Dravid's 6766 runs at that position is the most by any batsman (though Ricky Ponting is hot on his heels).

It's easy to think of Dravid as a match-saver rather than a match-winner - he bats too slowly to leave the bowlers enough time to take 20 wickets, goes the argument - but check out the best No.3s in wins, and Dravid's name sits proud in third slot, with an outstanding average of 95.

Among Indian batsmen, Dravid is a giant, and his numbers compare favourably with Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar. At a similar stage in their careers (after 99 Tests), Gavaskar had scored 8394 runs at 52.46, while Tendulkar had 8351 at 57.99. Also, no Indian batsman has averaged as much as he has in victories. Tendulkar might have been up there too, but unfortunately his best passage as a batsman coincided with a phase when the Indian side was a horribly weak one, which meant many of the runs scored in his pomp were in defeats. Dravid's best, on the other hand, has coincided with a much stronger bowling attack in all conditions, leading to far more wins than teams of the past eras experienced.

The next few months will offer him opportunities to set right the few blots in his record: India tour South Africa later this year, where Dravid will get a chance to up his average of 39 against that team, and settle some personal scores with Pollock. And if the runs keep coming at this clip, expect his average as captain - currently reading 43.29 - to go up as well.