Seven ones are seven
Seven twos are fourteen
Seven threes are twenty-one
Seven fours are twenty-eight
Seven fives are thirty-five…
Boring as hell. No one who ever went through middle school thought multiplication tables were fun. Ok, geometry could be inventive, trigonometry fascinating and calculus puzzling. But multiplication by rote? If math was Indian cricket, Rahul Dravid would be those very same multiplication tables. Boring? Yes. Tedious? Yes. Unglamorous? Yes. Yet, without knowing them, you wouldn't have a chance of getting ahead. And forgive me for stating the obvious, without Dravid, India wouldn't have a chance of getting ahead while playing abroad.

Sachin Tendulkar is the man who has won all the accolades - the advertisements, the big ticket TV shows at prime-time, and indeed the best attention of the fan. Sure, which cricket follower would miss out on the lazy elegance of the nudge just wide of mid-on that fetches the easiest single in the world? Or the crashing cover drive that threatens to split the webbing of any fielder who impudently dares to put his hand in the way? Ah! And what about the on drive that makes his bat look several inches wider than it is? No one would indeed miss any of that.

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But then no one would probably be able to witness any of this, if not for someone else. When Tendulkar crashed his way to 79 as everyone struggled around him, he knew he could go for an extravagant pull just minutes before tea because there was more to come. In his heart, `Tendlya' knew that even a shooter that kept low and trapped him in front of the stumps would not trouble India's Mr Reliable.

Tendulkar knows his cricket and would not play a rash shot with the nation's hopes on his shoulders, on his every shot, every run. He did however trust Dravid enough, and allowed himself the luxury of a no-holds-barred wanton pull against Mahendra Nagamootoo. The stroke cost him his wicket. Dravid might have looked down at the ground in disappointment then, but he knew the road ahead of him.

Dravid is no Tendulkar. He can't delight Indian fans and enchant cricket lovers with a spanking innings of 79. Yet his true value comes to the fore only when Tendulkar falls. While the little man is at the crease, the runs flow, the bowlers are battered into submission, the field tired and weary. His dismissal, however, makes sure that the very same bowlers perk up, fielders cheer and chirp audibly, and the pressure is on the batsmen.

And then, from an extreme corner of the stage, from where he was staking his claim for best supporting actor, emerges Dravid. It is his responsibility to see India through to safety.

VVS Laxman will drive the ball through covers with the regularity with which millionaires toss small change to beggars. Millionaires too go bankrupt these days, with financial crashes being what they are. Misers, however, always have at least one penny tucked away.

It is from exactly such a stock of hidden reserve that Dravid found the will to take a Merv Dillon bouncer smack on the grill of his helmet and yet continue batting unbothered. It is from that bank that Dravid's 10th Test hundred arrived. And not one that fluttered and faded away as soon as three figures went up on the scoreboard. One that extended long enough to take India out of the woods. And then for some time longer, for personal satisfaction.

Test cricket is hard enough for batsmen seeking to make big runs. Ask the Prince, Brian Lara, who was adjudged caught behind for a duck on a wicket where he might have had 200 on a different day, or with a different umpire. Ask Sourav Ganguly who made five before a short delivery on a flat track cost him everything.

Better still, ask Dravid. He knows how hard it is, what it takes, and makes sure the job is done. No, for all his hard-fought innings of character abroad, he won't attract one extra television commercial or one more fan. He will remain, however, a shining example of why it's important to learn the fundamental things well.
seven sixes are forty-two
seven sevens are forty-nine…

After all, without the basics how far could you possibly go?

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