So Dravid vs Tendulkar as batsman. For me this has always been easy may sound surprising (esp with my handle) that I will pick SRT ahead of Jam. Yes my serious following of cricket began post David's 148 vs RSA in JoBurg but the reason was i felt good about myself
When i watched RD bat, the reason being from my early cricket learning days all I could the best was defence or tap & run & it isn't cool in gully cricket so Jam made me feel that yes defence can still be a form of attack.
To summarize Jam for me is one of the quotes I once read, I think it was "Dravid makes mortals believe that they can achieve greatness" I think it was by Harsha.
Now when you talk about SRT its different. Especially for me growing up I could never play a SRT shot, forget hitting the good deliveries, I at times struggled to hit even the bad ones & this guy while batting made us fans feel WOWW how did he do that?
Playing as kid first tour Pakistan getting hit by Waqar & then still batting, hitting Qadir for those sixes, scoring 100 in Perth (which was the fastest pitch then) all this as a teenager, being the youngest to score overseas 100s
To being the oldest to score 100 in RSA. (that Steyn spell) marks him in a different league maybe a league of his own or in a league with Don.
Tendulkar was always about taking the attack on, especially take on that bowler who would be tough for other players so that the nerves could settle down in the change room that makes him very special. To pick length early & have the time to play those drives. Ufff
When someone asks me what's my fav Dravid knock it's never 233 in Adelaide, yeah it's up there but it's 148 in Leeds those conditions were so alien & the way played negating the swing setting a platform was just class.
My fav SRT knock is 241 vs Aus just the fact that the master didn't drive in a mammoth innings when ENDULKAR was being printed he played a knock unlike SRT & started rewriting cricket history
So my point being as a fan i can never compare these two. Dravid makes me belive that even with my limitations if I am mentally strong, committed, true to my skills & persevere then I will do well
& SRT makes me believe that impossible is nothing. If you have the gift then nurture it & become the best.
What both have taught me is never ridicule the game, always be honest to it. No matter how big a star or player you become always remember you are the ambassador of the game, a servant of the game. So #RDFOREVER #SRTFOREVER ❤️
