Dravid joins 11,000 Test run club

Mangalore Today

AHMEDABAD: Senior batsman Rahul Dravid on Monday added another feather to his cap by becoming the second Indian, fifth overall, to score 11,000 runs in Test cricket.

Dravid went into the three-match series against Sri Lanka needing 177 runs to reach the milestone and he achieved it in the opening day itself with an unbeaten 177. It was an elegant innings that not only earned him an individual record but also came at a time when the team needed it most.

Dravid’s moment of glory came in the 89th over when he cut pacer Chanaka Welegedara for a single at deep point and he raised his bat in acknowledgment of the cheers at the Sardar Patel Stadium.

The Karnataka batsman now joins the elite list which has compatriot Sachin Tendulkar at the top with 12,777 runs in Test cricket. West Indies batting great Brain Lara is second in the list with 11,953 runs from 131 matches, followed by the
Australian duo of Ricky Ponting (11,345 runs from 136 Tests) and Alan Border (11,174 runs in 156 matches).

Nicknamed as ’The wall’, Dravid has an awe-inspiring Test career where he scored 27 hundreds and 57 half-centuries at an  average of 53.39 in 135 Tests.
The 36-year-old batsman also has a whopping 10,765 runs from 339 ODIs at a average of 39.43 where he scored 12 hundreds and 82 fifties. Meanwhile, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni crossed 2,000 runs in Tests cricket in company of Dravid. Dhoni reached the mark during the course of his second Test century.