Shoaib Akhtar praises Rahul Dravid’s determination

Rahul Dravid is renowned for his unshakable powers of concentration, will, and grit that made him one of the greatest to don the Indian Test cap. Over a career spanning 17 years and 164 Tests, Dravid left many a bowler labouring in the hot sun while his sweat-soaked shirt left made no difference to his focus. Shoaib Akhtar, one of the fastest bowlers to have ever played the game has now attested to what the rest of the cricketing world has admired about the former Indian and RCB captain.

"Dravid was a difficult and determined batsman. It was difficult for me as well as him. He would play me quite easily," said Akhtar, talking to Aakash Chopra on the latter’s YouTube show AakashVani.

Akhtar also revealed the strategy he was taught to bowl to someone like Dravid during his formative years. "If a batsman used to play the ball late like Rahul Dravid, we would bowl him length balls. From close to the stump we would aim at the gap between bat and pad, try to hit the ball on the pad.”

The frustration on the opposition captain’s and bowler’s faces and body language would be evident once Dravid gets stuck in. Shoaib Akhtar also recalled one such incident from a Test match in Bangalore with Pakistan on the verge of victory. "There was a final match in Bangalore, I had dismissed Sadagoppan Ramesh early, we took 3-4 wickets early. Sachin Tendulkar was not playing. Shahid Afridi and I said Rahul Dravid will take a lot of time and it's Friday night today. Afridi said bowl something and take his wicket else he will play for long," Akhtar recalled.

"I hit him directly on the pad and urged the umpire to raise his fingers. I even said it's our Friday night. He did not give the decision in our favour but we had won in the end,” Akhtar added.

In the 10 Test matches Dravid played against Pakistan in which he faced Akhtar, the Rawalpindi express managed to breach The Wall only 4 times. However, Dravid averages a lowly 18.25 batting against Shoaib Akhtar.

[TOI inputs]