The quiet significance of Rahul Dravid

Once again, Rahul Dravid was the last man standing for India, this time in the first Test against England at Lord’s, in the process racking up his 33rd Test hundred. In the Times of India, Partha Badhuri pays tribute to a man who has never quite managed to receive the acclaim his deeds deserve.

Dravid was the artisan in this team of artists, the bedrock behind New India's early success under Ganguly, a throwback to an earlier era when craft and painstaking effort wasn't unfashionable. He would build his innings brick by effective brick and win match after match, yet shrouded in layers inside was a gorgeous strokeplayer of delightful ease, to be brought forth only when danger had been thwarted and the time was right for a display of arrogance.