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WATCH: From three consecutive 6s to reaching Test century with a maximum, Rahul Dravid has done it all
For Dravid, the traditionalist that we all know, hitting a six or playing a slog shot required extra-ordinary circumstances.
New Delhi: Batting great Rahul Dravid turned 44 on Wednesday. Cricket fraternity wished him a happy birthday, with majority of those messages revolving around his nickname 'The Wall'.
Also known as Mr. Reliable, Dravid epitomised the defensive batting at a period when the gentleman's game was witnessing a shift change, the arrival of Twenty20 et all.
In fact, he advised Indian board to send a young team at the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup, saying this new format is meant for youngsters. India returned victorious under Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and one year later an opportunistic Lalit Modi started the Indian Premier League.
For Dravid, the traditionalist that we all know, hitting a six or playing a slog shot required extra-ordinary circumstances. It's not that he can't hit or slog, but the purist in him forbade him playing out of range.
And in one rare circumstance, Dravid hit a six in Test cricket, that too when batting on 98. Back then, not many had dared to play a lofted shot, let alone think of a six, when nearing a milestone.
In fact, he defied his own standards to hit three consecutive sixes in his only T20I match, against England at Old Trafford in 2011.
It, that six while batting on 98, happened during India's tour of Australia in 2003.
In the second Test, he batted beautifully to score a brilliant 233 in the first innings to help India come close to Australia's 556 at Adelaide Oval. India's first innings total of 523 also witnessed Dravid and VVS Laxman (148) posting a 303-run fifth-wicket stand.
He reached hundred with a six off the penultimate ball of the 87th over, bowled by Jason Gillespie. Interetstingly, Dravid also reached with a four, this time off the bowling of Stuart MacGill, off the first ball of the 144th over.