33 Interesting Facts About Rahul Dravid- “The Wall”

Composure, resilience, dedication, conscientiousness, humility are the words that define Rahul Dravid precisely. One of the greatest batsmen to ever been a part of the game, without whom particularly Test cricket would be incomplete. He is one of the few players who have crossed the mark of 10000 runs in Test and ODI both formats. Representing India for 15 years (1996-2011) in the international arena, Dravid never gave up and always stood like a pillar for his country. We have pointed out some interesting facts about Rahul Dravid– “The Wall”, which will blow your mind. 

Born	Indore
Spouse	Vijeta Pendharkar
Children	Samit Dravid

Interesting Facts About Rahul Dravid

1. Dravid was born on 11th January 1973 in a Marathi family to parents Pushpa Dravid and Sharad Dravid in Indore. But he grew up in Bangalore. His father would work in a food processing company and his mother was a professor of architecture at the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering. 

2. Rahul Dravid used to go to St.Joseph Boys High School in Bangalore and completed his higher studies at St.Joseph College of Commerce. While pursuing his MBA, the BCCI selected him for the national team.

3. As Dravid’s father would work in a Jam factory, people call him Jammy and for his dependable batting fans have given him the designation “The Wall”. 

4. Dravid is multilingual- he can speak Marathi, Kannada, English, and Hindi fluently. 

5. Rahul Dravid stepped into the world of cricket at the age of 12. Former cricketer keki Tarapore acknowledged his talent in the summer camp at the Chinnaswamy stadium when he scored a century for his school as a wicket-keeper batsman. The talented man has also played for Karnataka U-15, U-17, and U-19.

6. The right-handed batsman made his first appearance in first-class cricket for Karnataka in 1991 against Maharashtra in Pune in a Ranji Trophy game, his future team India mates Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath were also a part of the Karnataka team in that match. Dravid scored 82 runs in the match and the match got tied. In the very next season, Dravid scored 2 centuries and aggregated 380 runs at an impressive average of 63.30, which pushed him into the Duleep Trophy squad of South Zone.  

7. The Karnataka lad made his international debut in an ODI match against Sri Lanka in 1996 as Vinod Kambli’s replacement. Dravid managed to score only 3 runs in his first ODI match. 

8. Just after 2 months of induction in the ODI team, Rahul played his maiden test match against England at Lord’s in June 1996. He went on to score 95 runs, batting at No 7. His fellow teammate Sourav Ganguly, who also made his test debut, scored a fantastic hundred. 

9. Rahul Dravid was the highest run-getter in the 1999 World Cup, 461 runs in 8 games at a staggering average of 65.85. Although India didn’t qualify for the Semifinal, Dravid slammed his critics with his performance as he was struggling in the limited-overs format before the World Cup.

10. English County giant Kent signed Dravid for the 2000 season. Rahul ended as the highest run-scorer in the season with 1221 runs in 16 matches, averaging 55.50. 

11. Dravid’s one of the best test innings is 180 against Australia at Eden Gardens in 2001, where India got all out for 171 and Australia scored 445 in the first innings. India was following on and along with VVS Laxman, Dravid stitched a partnership of 375 runs and took India to the score of 657 runs. Bundling Australia for 212 runs, India thrashed Australia by 171 runs. 

12. Rahul Dravid is the only Indian batsman to smash a hundred in four consecutive test innings, he achieved the feat in 2002.

13. In the 2003-04 Test season, Dravid smacked three double centuries- 222 against New Zealand, 233 against Australia, and 270 against Pakistan. 

14. In the only win against Australia at Adelaide Oval in India’s tour of Australia 2003, Dravid was the architect. He amassed 233 in the first innings, followed by 72 in the 2nd innings to take his team home. 

15. Rahul Dravid made a unique record in his name, of being the 1st player to score a century against all ten test-playing nations. 

16. Rahul Dravid was made the captain during Greg Chappel’s tenure as the coach of the Indian Cricket Team. He led India to India’s first test victory in South Africa in 2006. The best was yet to come and Dravid won the Test series in England by 1-0. He also beat West Indies in West Indies in a Test series in 2006, which was India’s first test series win in West indies since 1971. 

17. After getting eliminated in the group stage in the 2007 World Cup, Dravid Stepped down from captaincy. 

18. Bangladesh knocked India out in the 2007 World Cup in the initial stage. Afterward, warm-hearted Dravid gifted his two bats to youngsters Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim, who won the match for their nation.

19. Dravid was in good touch in the latest stage of his career also. India traveled to England in 2011 and played 4 test matches, it was Rahul’s last overseas test series. He didn’t let his fans down and ended up the series as the highest run-scorer (461 runs in 4 matches). 

20. Rahul Dravid created controversy during the India tour of Pakistan in 2004, he declared India’s innings when Sachin was batting on 194. The cricket fans called it a selfish act.

21. Not everyone is acquainted with Rahul Dravid’s only appearance in T20 International, he played a T20 match at Old Trafford, Manchester, and scored 31 off 21 deliveries.

22. Dravid has been a part of the Indian Premier League for 6 years, 3 years for Royal Challengers Bangalore (2008-10) & three years for Rajasthan Royals (2011-13). 

23. In 2003, the great wall played 11 matches for Scotland as a foreign player in the National Cricket League, which was played in England. He became the top scorer for Scotland with 600 runs in 11 games. 

24. Dravid has faced the most number of balls in Test cricket, 31258 balls. 

25. Indian Government has conferred Dravid with 3 national awards- Arjuna Award (1998), Padma Shri Award (2004), and Padma Bhusan (2013). 

26. Rahul Dravid is the first player to win the inaugural “Sir Garfield Sobers ICC Cricketer of the Year” award in 2004. 

27. There are two biographies on Rahul Dravid- “Rahul Dravid A Biography” written by Vedam Jaisankar and “The Nice Guy Who Finished First” by Devendra Prabhudesai. 

28. Dravid has been a prolific member of the Children Movement for Civic Awareness and UNICEF Supporter and Aids Awareness Campaign. 

29. BCCI gave Rahul the coaching role of the U-19 Indian team and India A team for three Years (2016-2019). In 2019, Dravid became the head of the National Cricket Academy to groom the U-19 and state players. 

30. Rahul Dravid’s wife’s name is Vijeta Pendharkar, who is a surgeon by profession. They got married in 2013. Their children’s names are “Samit” and “Anvay”.
31. Dravid used to wear 19 No jersey.
32. Not everyone would belive, but people choosed Rahul Dravid as the sexiest sportsperson of India in a survey, conducted by a magazine. Fans overlooked Yuvraj Singh and Sania Mirza in this survey.
33. In 2018, ICC inducted Rahul Dravid in the “Hall Of Fame” in the honor of his legendary career.

Rahul Dravid’s Career Stats

Format	Match	Runs	Avg	SR
Test 1996–12	164	13288	52.3	42.5
ODI 1996–11	344	10889	39.2	71.2
T20I 2011	1	31	31.0	147.6
IPL 2008–13	89	2174	28.2	115.5