They may have started in whites and ended in coloured clothing, but the fact that Dravid and Sachin's legend s... Read More

NEW DELHI: They may have started in whites and ended in coloured clothing, but the fact that Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar 's legend stands immutable wasn't lost on the Ferozeshah Kotla crowd on Sunday.

Fans turned up to get one last glimpse of Indian cricket's two biggest names in action during the Champions League T20 final between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals . The match itself threatened to turn into a mere sub-plot as both players hogged the limelight leading up to the start.

"One final time is nice," said Dravid, for whom the last few months have been a rather difficult time given RR's spot-fixing troubles. "It's funny that we have played against each other more in coloured clothing.

You must remember Sachin is seven years senior to me as a player. I'm okay giving away my jersey number, Dinesh Karthik is wearing mine, I think. It's been a roller-coaster ride with the Royals. I couldn't have asked for anything more. It's been a great journey."

Tendulkar will be seen in action again after Sunday's Champions League T20 final, though maybe not at the Ferozeshah Kotla, and never again in a T20 match.

For RR skipper Rahul Dravid, though, the final against Mumbai Indians was his last competitive game, and the crowd roared its approval as Dravid walked out to a guard of honour from his Royals teammates.

Fittingly, Tendulkar chose to focus on Dravid's dependability and ability to surmount big odds, saying, "I think I captained Rahul for the first time in whites, a Wills Trophy match in 1993 or 1994. He loved challenges, I knew we could bank on Rahul."