Rahul Dravid

Rahul Dravid during a press conference to announce the 'National Geographic Junior Hunt 2' competition winner in New Delhi. (AFP Photo/Manpreet Romana)

Rahul Dravid poses for the photographers. (Photo/Prasad Kumar)  (BCCL)

Dravid often kept wickets for India in ODIs. Seen here, Dravid gesturing during the man of the match ceremony after loosing their match to Sri lanka at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain, in Trinidad and Tobago, March 23, 2007. (Photo/Prakash Singh)

Rahul Dravid's international debut against Sri Lank in the Singer Cup in Singapore (1996) is hardly worth mentioning. He was dropped from the team until he was picked for the tour of England. (Photo/Uma Kadam)

Dravid then made his second coming in the second test against England along with Sourav Ganguly, scoring 95. He held his position on Manjrekar's return for the third test, scoring 84. Seen here, Dravid watching Dhoni batting during a practice match between India and India A at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on July 19, 2006. (Photo/K. Sunil Prasad)

Dravid had a moderate home series against Australia and South Africa, but proved his mettle on the 1996-97 tour of South Africa. He batted at third position and scored his maiden century(148) in the third test in Johannesburg and got awarded his first man of the match award. Seen here, Dravid displaying a Citizen watch during a press conference to declare him as the brand ambassador for Citizen watches in New Delhi. (Photo/Amit Kumar)

Dravid also did well against arch rivals Pakistan, scoring his first half-century(90) against the team in the Sahara Cup in 1996. Seen here, Dravid at Taj Lands End. (Photo/Nilesh Wairkar)

In the 18 months ending in mid-1998, Dravid played in an away series against the West Indies, home and away series against Sri Lanka and a home series against Australia, he scored consistently, with 964 runs at an average of 56.7. Seen here, Dravid boarding the waiting vans for the fitness camp taking place outside the Bangalore. (Photo/Syed Asif)

Dravid soon began to be known for his stamina, hold on his wicket and consistency. He became the third Indian batsman after Vijay Hazare and Sunil Gavaskar to score centuries in both innings of a match during the 1999 New Year's Test match against New Zealand with 190 and 103* to force a draw, batting for a total of 653 minutes. Seen Here, Dravid holding a cricket bat at a press conference organised for the Hutch Delhi Half Marathon in New Delhi. (Photo/Sanjiv Rastogi)

Dravid was not a hitter like Sachin and Saurav. He had a moderate subcontinental season in early 1999, scoring 269 runs at 38.42 with one century before scoring 239 at 39.8 including a century against New Zealand in late 1999. Seen here, Dravid arriving at hotel Mount View in Chandigarh. (Photo/S Chandan)

Dravid could not do much in the away series against Australia as well and had another poor home series against South Africa, accumulating just 187 runs at an average of 18.7. Seen here, leaving the hotel in Chandigarh. (Photo/Jaswinder Singh)

Dravid soon came back to form and scored 200*, his first double century, against Zimbabwe in Delhi which along with 70* in the second innings helped India to victory. Seen here, Dravid getting named the Captain a Dream Test Team by ICC at the award ceremony held in Mumbai on Friday, November 03, 2006.(Photo/Nalin Solanki)

From then on Dravid had several good and bad series. His consistency gave him nick-names like 'The Wall' and 'Mr Dependable'. Seen here, Rahul Dravid on the second day of Mumbai Vs. Bengal Ranji Trophy final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday, February 03, 2007.(Photo/Santosh Bane)

Dravid is regarded as one of the finest test players and has scored 23 centuries in Test cricket at an average of 58.75, including 5 double centuries. Seen here, as the Times of India guest editor in New Delhi. (Photo/SANJIV Rastogi)

Dravid is one of the few Indians who average more at away matches than at home, averaging over 10 more runs a match abroad than on Indian pitches. Seen here, Dravid and Coach Greg Chappell before a press conference a day before the team left for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007. (Photo/Sachin Haralkar)

Dravid was never much of a bowler. His sole test wicket was that of Ridley Jacobs in the fourth test against the West Indies during the 2001-2002 series. Seen here, Dravid signing a banner before leaving for the West Indies for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, February 28, 2007. (Photo/Santosh bane)

Dravid has a few records to his credit. He was involved in two of the largest partnerships in ODIs: a 318-run partnership with Sourav Ganguly, the first pair to combine for a 300-run partnership, and then a 331-run partnership with Sachin Tendulkar, which is the present world record. Seen here, Dravid during Twenty20 match between Gujarat and Karnataka at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday, April 17, 2007. (Photo/Uma Kadam)

Dravid also holds the record for the greatest number of innings since debut before being dismissed for a duck. Seen here, Dravid injured during physical training session on the fourth day of conditioning camp at Eden Garden in Kolkata, before Bangladesh tour. (Photo/Pradip Datta)

Dravid is the current world record holder for the highest percentage contribution of runs scored in matches won under a single captain. In the 21 Test matches India won under Sourav Ganguly's leadership, Dravid played his part in every single one of those wins, scoring at a record average of 102.84 and piling up an astonishing 2571 runs. Seen here, Dravid posing with the trophy for the One-Day International series at the Bir Sreshta Shahid Ruhul Amin Stadium in Chittagong. (AP Photo/Gautam Singh)

Dravid has been awarded for his contribution to Indian cricket several times. He was named one of the Wisden cricketers of the year 2000. In 2004, Dravid was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. On September 07, 2004, he was awarded the inaugural Player of the year award and the Test player of the year by the International Cricket Council, ICC. Seen here, Dravid at the Cricket Camp at Chinaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. (Photo/Syed Asif)

On 18th March, 2006, Dravid played his 100th Test against England in Mumbai. In 2005, a biography of Rahul Dravid written by Devendra Prabhudesai was published, 'The nice guy who finished first'.Sene here, Dravid at Belfast after beating South Africa and wining the series on Sunday, June 01, 2007. (Photo/Pradeep Mandhani)

Dravid has earned fame and recognition on the highest International level. In the 2005 ICC Awards Dravid was the only Indian to be named to the World one-day XI. Seen here, Dravid speaking during the launch of Indian Premier League (IPL) to be played in the Twenty20 format. (Reuters Photo/Vijay Mathur)

In 2006, it was announced that he would remain captain of the Indian team up to the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies. Dravid however announced his resignation as captain before their match against Pakistan in the Twenty20 world cup on September 14, 2007. Seen here, Dravid prepares to throw a ball during a fielding practice session at Lords Cricket Ground, London, ahead of the start of the first Test against England. (AFP Photo/Chris Young)