Dravid given befitting farewell from ODI cricket

Veteran Indian batsman Rahul Dravid was on Friday given a befitting farewell from One-Day cricket in the fifth and final match against England.

Cardiff: Veteran Indian batsman Rahul Dravid was on Friday given a befitting farewell from One-Day cricket, with the crowd here saluting him with standing ovation after he walked into ODI sunset after scoring a solid 69 in the fifth and final match against England.

A near capacity crowd at the Sophia Gardens rose on their feet as soon as Dravid made his way to the middle after Ajinkya Rahane was out in the 13th over when India were at 52 for one. The crowd once again rose on their feet as Dravid walked back after he was out in the 42nd over of Indian innings to mark the end of his ODI career after playing in 344 matches. All the England players sacked hands with Dravid in fine gesture when he made his way to the pavillion and veteran batsman raised his bat in acknowledgment of the appreciation from the crowd. Dravid`s wife Vijeta and their two children were also seen among the crowd and he straightaway went up to them. The crowd greeted Dravid with placards on which were written `we will miss you Dravid, the great ambassador of India` and `the only reason we are here is to show gratitude to Rahul`. Dravid quit One-Day after an illustrious career spanning 15 years from 1996 and scored 10,889 runs from 344 matches. He is the seventh most prolific ODI run-getter in history. He had announced his ODI retirement before the start of the limited overs series against England after he was surprisingly named in the Indian squad after a hiatus of nearly four years. PTI