What can the boy do? - Well he can .....

My shortest post is about a strange fact. One of the great Indian test cricketers, Rahul Dravid did not have the brightest of starts in the international scene. His selection in the national squad was definitely on the basis of a strong performance at the domestic front.

- He had scored more than 4000 runs in 5 full seasons of domestic cricket at a healthy average of a little more than 60 (first class cricket)
- India had witnessed a disastrous ending to what seemed till then like a very fruitful world cup campaign. One of the causalities of the '96 squad was Vinod Kambli and Dravid was pulled up.

Having secured that all important national call up, he did not enjoy the brightest of starts. In his first 5 ODIs, he scored all of 43 runs at a not-so-jaw-dropping average of 10.75. We all know where he has ended up after that. But with a start like the one he had, one would not have been surprised if he had been left in the wilderness.

This start was before Dravid's entry into test cricket, which makes it all the more interesting. I checked to see what exactly he was doing right in those first few days. It turns out, that he was doing something that he has made a name for himself - Catching.

He does hold the record for the most catches in test cricket. This talent must have been spotted at a very early stage.

- Dravid had 7 catches to his name in his first 5 ODIs
- This included 3 matches where he had more than 1 catch to his name :)

It is often said that Catches win matches. Maybe in this case, catches won Dravid a career we all will find very difficult to forget :)