The curious case of Rahul Dravid

Rahul Dravid had his poorest international season in 1999-2000. In the sixteen Test match innings he played, Dravid crossed fifty just once for an average of 26.62. It appeared as though in the midst of his elusive quest for an impenetrable defensive technique, he had forgotten how to score runs.

Even though he managed to stake out a presence at the wicket for some length of time, the returns that he procured were minimal. Just as the bowler failed to penetrate his defence, so did Dravid fail to penetrate the field although the strokes were executed with flawless precision. He seemed to have convinced himself into pursuing a ritual of blocking all that was hurled at him at the start of his innings, even to the extent of patting innocuous half volleys down the wicket.

It was not a pretty sight but apart from the aesthetics of the matter, the strategy was also grievously flawed because of the pressure he heaped on himself in the process. Dravid's tentative demeanour at the crease also betrayed his insecurity. Opposition bowlers marked him out as a soft dismissal. Why, even Shane Warne went to the extent of saying that Dravid was the one Indian batsman against whom he fancied his chances. That's one side of the story. The flip side.

In the last few weeks, the script has been turned topsy turvy. A marvellous exhibition of positive batsmanship with Kent has hoisted Dravid to the top of the first class aggregates for the English season with 921 runs at a phenomenal 92.1 including a hundred apiece against Zimbabwe and Hampshire.

The early part of the season saw Dravid's old failing of not being able to convert the fifties into hundreds coming back to haunt him. But he put that phase firmly behind him with a fascinating duel against Shane Warne at Portsmouth last week. It was the icing on the cake as Dravid's mastery over the Aussie yielded 137 and 73 not out in the two innings and fashioned a six wicket victory over Hampshire in the County Championship. The 17 points that accrued from the win boosted Kent to sixth place in the first division with 84 points from nine games.

Dravid seems to be revelling in the familiar English conditions in which he launched his Test career with such distinction in 1996 and where again he played such an excellent hand in the 1999 World Cup. He has shown in the past that he can stroke the ball with freedom when he seeks to. Indeed even during this international season, there was one innings at Nagpur against South Africa where he made a stirring 79 off 70 balls displaying an inventiveness in his strokeplay that he had rarely unveiled before. It's perhaps not the most appropriate example to suggest because the Hansie Cronje tapes have put the goings-on in that match under some suspicion! The fact remains that Dravid does have a freeflowing and attractive side to him that he has left mostly to the imagination so far. Hopefully he will condescend to kill the Mr. Hyde persona for good and live hereon in the amiable guise of Dr. Jekyll.