Rahul Dravid

Bangalore

Former Indian top-order batsmanhas made another debut. He has made it into the second language Kannada textbook for Std X.The textbook’s second chapter speaks about Dravid’s on-field achievements and his famed personality which was so in tune with the gentleman’s game.Dravid, who earned the moniker The Wall for his ability to bat in tough conditions, scored over 13,000 runs in the 164 Tests and 11,000 runs in the 344 ODIs he played for India. He went on to captain Team India.The textbook highlights Dravid’s passion for cricket from a young age. He started playing at the age of 12, debuted for Karnataka in Ranji Trophy in 1991 and started playing for India in 1996. He was a good fielder and wicketkeeper.The chapter has anecdotes from his life and also traces the origin of his surname ‘Dravid’. It says that his ancestors moved from Tanjore to Indore and served as priests. As they were from south India, they were referred to as Dravid.Dravid’s mother Pushpa is elated about his son making it to the textbook. The former lecturer in architecture toldMirror: “It feels very nice. If students can learn from his life, that would be wonderful. I am not saying this because he is my son, but because there is so much to learn from him. He has a lot of patience, he respects his elders a lot and gets along with his colleagues.”She added that Dravid was also good at his studies even as he played cricket – a fact that should inspire students to balance their life. Pushpa said, “He had written his second semester MBA exam when he got selected to play for India. Once he decides to achieve something, he will not rest until he succeeds.”