Rahul Dravid carried the image of a blocker in test cricket, but his IPL career turned out to be decent. Dravid led Rajasthan Royals to the final of the Champions League T20 in 2013
Rahul Dravid played just one T20I in his international career, in which he scored 31 runs. It may come as a surprise to some, but he scored at a strike rate of 147.61 in that innings, with three sixes.
Dravid broke the stereotype of being just a one-dimensional batsman to some extent with his heroics at the IPL. He was part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise when the IPL kicked off in 2008 and remained with RCB till 2010.
In his final three years of his career, he moved to Rajasthan Royals and led them to the final of the Champions League T20 in 2013, before retiring.
The Wall had slightly better figures for Royal Challengers Bangalore than Rajasthan. For RCB, he featured in 43 matches, in which he scored 898 runs at an average of 26.41 and the best of 75 not out. His strike rate of 122.85 was quite decent, given that 160 was a good score in the first few years of the IPL.
Although his average touched 30 for Rajasthan, his strike rate dipped considerably as Dravid struck at 110.86 for RR. He did a fine job as captain to emerge victorious in 22 out of the 48 matches in which he led, while losing the other 26.
2008 and 2010 were the best years for Dravid. In the inaugural edition of the IPL, Dravid averaged 28.53 and scored 371 runs from 14 matches, striking at almost 125. In 2010 as well, David averaged 28.4 and struck at 128.64 with 256 runs from 16 matches.
The Wall did a fine job in his last IPL innings when he opened the batting for Rajasthan Royals alongside AjinkyaRahane. Dravid scored 43 runs off 37 deliveries with seven fours, striking at 116.22.
Rajasthan lost to Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2 and was knocked out of IPL 2013, and the illustrious career of Dravid came to an end.
An upset Rahul Dravid during a Rajasthan Royals match
His career figures are pretty decent. From 89 IPL matches, Dravid ended up with 2174 runs at an average of 28.23 and a strike rate of 115.51. The occasional keeper struck 11 half-centuries in his career with the help of 269 fours and 28 sixes.
After playing leading the side as a captain and serving as a player, Dravid became the mentor of Rajasthan Royals. As a mentor, he honed several youngsters, such as Sanju Samson, Deepak Hooda and Karun Nair, who proved to be crucial players for the franchise.
