In a 16-year career, the 39-year-old Dravid built a reputation as a masterful batsman with immense powers of concentration. His painstaking approach and ability to stay at the crease despite the best efforts of opposing bowlers earned him the nickname "The Wall." "My approach to cricket has been reasonably simple: it was about giving everything to the team, it was about playing with dignity, and it was about upholding the spirit of the game," Dravid said at a news conference Friday. "I have failed at times, but I have never stopped trying.
"It is why I leave with sadness but also with pride." The No. 3 batsman formed part of a feared India batting lineup also boasting Sachin Tendulkar and V.V.S. Laxman, both of whom could soon follow their teammate into international retirement.
"There was and is only one Rahul Dravid, there can be no other," Tendulkar, India's "Little Master," told the NDTV news channel. "I will miss Rahul in the dressing room and out in the middle. I have shared the best moments with him." Dravid, who had already quit one-day and Twenty20 international cricket, scored five centuries in 2011 and in England became the first player ever to score three centuries for a team that lost every test in a series.
But he could manage only 194 runs during India's recent 4-0 Test whitewash in Australia amid calls for India to give younger batsmen a chance.
"I've played for 16 years and it was time I moved on to give a chance to youngsters to take the team forward," Dravid said.
Dravid scored 13,228 runs in 164 tests with 36 centuries, and 10,889 runs in 344 one-dayers with 12 centuries. He also holds the record for most test catches by a fielder with 210.
Among many other distinctions, Dravid has scored centuries in all 10 test-playing countries, and once scored four consecutive centuries (against England and the West Indies) in 2002.
His 376-run stand with Laxman against Australia at the Eden Gardens at Kolkata in 2001 helped India win the test despite following on, and he became only the second batsman after Don Bradman to score double hundreds in three successive series when he compiled 222 versus New Zealand at Ahmedabad in 2003-04, 233 against Australia at Adelaide in 2003-04 and 270 versus Pakistan at Rawalpindi in 2003-04.
His most memorable test performance was scoring that 233 and a 72 not out to ensure India's first test victory in Australia in 23 years.
"I was like every other boy in India, with a dream of playing for my country. Yet I could never have imagined a journey so long and so fulfilling. No dream is ever chased alone," he said, thanking his coaches, captains and selectors who backed him over the years.
Dravid is among a select band of batsmen to have reached five-figure career totals in both test and one-day cricket and was recognized for his performances by being named one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year in 2000 and ICC player of the year at the ICC's inaugural awards ceremony in 2004.
"He was a perfectionist," said former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who made his debut in the same Lord's test as Dravid in June 1996. "His determination, technique and commitment toward the game was something special.
"It's really tough to become another Rahul Dravid. It will not happen overnight. It has taken him long to get here. One has to go through a lot of hardships and commitment." Dravid maintained that his decision to retire was not hastened by his failure to pull India out of a recent eight-match losing streak in overseas tests in England and Australia.
"I did not take the decision based on what happened in recent series," he said. "I thought this was the time to go. It is a difficult moment, but it is a moment that has to come to everybody. I also know that in some ways it has been an easy decision." Dravid, who captained India from 2005 to 2007, also played crucial roles in one-day games, especially World Cups. He was the highest scorer in the 1999 World Cup in England with 461 runs and took the additional role of wicketkeeper to lend balance to a Ganguly-led team that made the final of the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.
Dravid isn't giving up playing completely. He will still lead will lead the Rajasthan Royals in this year's Twenty20 Indian Premier League, beginning April 4. Other than that, he plans to enjoy the simple pleasures of life.
"I just want to do things like take my sons to school," he said.
