Letter to Rahul Dravid

There was a period of around four years when I thought you were India's most dependable batsman. I felt more secure when you were at the crease, than when even SRT was occupying it. And it did not feel blasphemous or anything, because you outperformed him. Even today, with your fall and his complementary soar, you are only 2500 runs apart despite having made your debut a good six years after him. Deliveries and catches that got you out were talked about at length the following day at school or college, for they had to be special. Every victory outside India was fashioned by a marathon effort by you.

But no more. Now, it looks like a struggle. Ever since the tour of England in 2007, when you very mysteriously resigned from the captaincy to "concentrate on your batting", it has been just that. You look like you are being overburdened and weighed down when you are at the center. You've looked far more serene under far more difficult circumstances, when the batting of the team hinged entirely upon SRT's, Laxman's, Ganguly's and your shoulders. Now we have a more consistent Sehwag, a Gambhir and a more than decent wicketkeeper batsman to fall back on, should the core fail.

Since that tour of England, there have been a few starts, but you haven't converted them into more meaningful scores. You looked good against New Zealand away and Sri Lanka at home in 2009, and I thought maybe this was some kind of revival, the end of a lean patch which most players of the highest class invariably go through, for SRT's was not very long before. There were expectations in 2010, but they haven't been met. Sri Lanka was a dismal campaign, but you didn't appear out of form; you just kept finding ways to get out. I thought that might have been the end, and that Dhoni's and the selectors' patience had run out and that perhaps you wouldn't get to play Australia, but it happened. A weakness against left-armers bowling from over the wicket began to emerge and manifest itself and was duly exploited by Johnson and Bollinger. Then another good series against a very weak New Zealand side followed, which again raised my hopes of a revival, and ensured a ticket to South Africa.

I thought South Africa was going to be the decisive series. For it was here that you made your first test century, fourteen years ago against Donald at his pomp; it was here that you made vital but often completely ignored contributions during the World Cup in 2003; it was also here that you first started losing your way in 2006; it was here that made your mark in the IPL, that eventually led to a recall in the ODI team; but it was also here that you played your last ODI and dropped cruelly, never to be considered again. And I suppose you were selected to play on this tour only because of your very fine record overseas, for we have, and will always have enough batsmen to succeed in India.

Tonight is when we need you. I am writing this without much expectation, but I hope to be proven wrong. Tonight is when you need to roll back the years, score a century, and help India at least save the test match, and with it, the series. For winning is dependent entirely on the start that Sehwag can provide, unless of course SRT has other plans. Should you fail, it ought to be the end. I am saying this only because I cannot bear to take this any longer. It's kind of like wishing death upon a terminally ill, long-struggling loved one.

Thanks for the memories; I will cherish them.