Rahul Dravid calls press conference, sparks off retirement speculations

Dravid is likely to notice his retirement on today. Dravid, 39, has called a press conference in Bangalore


Dravid is set to be the first of India’s senior-most cricketers – including Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman – to quit the game after a season of speculation surrounding their future. His decision follows a poor tour of Australia but he enjoyed a prolific run through 2011, scoring five centuries – including four in the West indies  and England. However, he is set to captain Rajasthan Royals in the upcoming IPL season.



The 39-year-old Dravid had announced his retirement from ODI cricket in England last year after been surprisingly recalled in the ODI team due to his stupendous performance during the Test series against England in which he scored three centuries.


Dravid has played in 164 Test matches since making his debut against England at the Lord's in 1996. He has scored 13,288runs for an impressive average of 52.31 and aggregates second only to Sachin Tendulkar who has 15470 runs in 188 Test matches.

Dravid, nicknamed the 'Wall' for his dour defence, is also a world record holder in the number of Test catches. He took 210 catches, mostly in the slip cordon.



Rahul Dravid Biographies


Rahul Dravid has 2 biographies written on his career:
Rahul Dravid – A Biography written by Vedam Jaishankar (ISBN 978-81-7476-481-2). Publisher: UBSPD Publications. Date: January 2004
The Nice Guy Who Finished First written by Devendra Prabhudesai. Publisher: Rupa Publications. Date: November 2005
Other work



Rahul Sharad Dravid  pronunciation (help·info) (born 11 January 1973) is a cricketer in the Indian national team, of which he has been a regular member since 1996. He was appointed as the captain of the Indian cricket team in October 2005 and resigned from the post in September 2007.Dravid was honoured as one of the top-five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2000. Dravid was also awarded the ICC Player of the Year and the Test Player of the Year at the inaugural awards ceremony held in 2004. Dravid also holds the record of having taken the most number of catches in Test cricket.
On 7 August 2011 after getting a surprise call to play in ODI series against England he declared his retirement from One Day Internationals and T20.
Popularly hailed as "The Wall of Indian cricket", Dravid is regarded by many to be one of the greatest batsmen in the history of the game. Dravid holds multiple cricketing records. He is the second Indian batsman, after Sachin Tendulkar, and the third international player to reach 12,000 runs in Test cricket. On 14 February 2007, he became the sixth player overall and the third Indian (after Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly), to score 10,000 runs in ODI cricket in cricketing history. He is the first and only batsman to score a century in all ten Test playing nations. With more than 200 catches, Dravid currently holds the world record for the most number of catches in Test cricket. Dravid has also been involved in more than 80 century partnerships with 18 different partners and has been involved in 19 century partnerships with Sachin Tendulkar – a world record.
On 24 November 2011, He became the second international player to reach 13,000 runs in Test Cricket only after Sachin Tendulkar.
On 14 December 2011, he became the first non-Australian cricketer to address at the Bradman Oration in Canberra.
Dravid has been bowled 55 times in Test cricket, going past Allan Border's previous record of 53.