Rahul Dravid was always considered a player who played with a slow run rate.Rahul Dravid hit 3 consecutive sixes in the only T20 match played against England.In this match, Rahul Dravid scored runs at a strike rate of 147.
New Delhi. There has always been an exciting clash between the cricket teams of India and England. When two great teams clash on the playing field, a wave of excitement runs in the hearts of the spectators. Sourav Ganguly waved his T-shirt only after winning the series against England. One such interesting incident is related to the England tour of 2011, when the Indian team reached England to play all three formats of cricket – Test, ODI and T20. At that time, the England team dominated India in every format, but there was an Indian player who did something in his only T20 International match, which cricket fans remember even today. He was none other than the ‘wall’ of Indian cricket, Rahul Dravid.
On hearing the name of Rahul Dravid, the image of a patient and intelligent batsman emerges in the minds of cricket lovers, who was famous for holding one end of his team in Test cricket. But, when he was included in the team for the T20 match in India’s England tour, people’s eyebrows were raised. After all, how right was it to take a player who was considered a master of slow play in a fast format like T20?
Rahul Dravid had played 164 Tests and 344 ODIs in his career, but he had never tried himself in T20. But, on 31 August 2011, when India played the only T20 match against England, Dravid not only had to play for the team but also had to answer his critics. And he did what he always did – write his own story with the bat.
Rahul-Rahul echoed in the field
Batting first, India tried to give England a good target. Parthiv Patel and Ajinkya Rahane came on the field as the opening pair, but Parthiv was soon out after scoring 10 runs. Then came the turn of ‘Deewar’. Rahul Dravid came to play at number three. As soon as he came on the field, there was silence, there was only one question in everyone’s hearts – will Dravid be able to fit in this format?
Samit Patel came to bowl the 11th over and he did not know that he was going to face the wrath of Rahul Dravid’s bat. On the fourth ball of the 11th over, Dravid played the first big shot – a great six! The entire stadium echoed with applause. After that, another six on the very next ball, and then the same scene on the last ball of the over. Three consecutive sixes! Seeing these shots coming from Rahul Dravid’s bat, the spectators present in the stadium started shouting ‘Rahul-Rahul’. Everyone in the field was surprised, hardly anyone had expected such shots from a Test cricketer.
great story of an innings
However, Rahul Dravid’s wicket fell soon, but by then he had scored 31 runs in 21 balls. His strike rate in this short innings was 147.61, and three memorable sixes were also recorded in his name. This was the only T20 International match of his career.
In this match, India scored 165 runs, which was a good target. England needed 166 runs to win, and Team India was confident that they would defend this target. But the game of cricket is full of uncertainties. England batsman Eoin Morgan played a quick innings of 49 runs in 27 balls and snatched the victory from India. England achieved the target in the 20th over by losing 4 wickets.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni was captaining India in this match, but Rahul Dravid was the center of discussion after this match. Even though India lost this match, that short but brilliant innings of Rahul Dravid is still remembered. This match proved that Rahul Dravid gave his 100 percent in every format of cricket. This only T20 match of Rahul Dravid is an incident that cricket lovers can never forget. His back-to-back three consecutive sixes are still fresh in the hearts of Indian cricket fans.
Tags: Cricket news, Cricket Records, Rahul Dravid, T20 cricket
FIRST PUBLISHED : September 20, 2024, 18:14 IST