The book captures this aspect well, tracing his evolution from his Test debut for India at Lord’s in 1996. But one wishes the author had dwelled a bit more on a couple of stressful moments in his career. For a man who’s conducted himself superbly on and off the field, Dravid found himself in the middle of controversy twice in 2004. At the beginning of the year, match referee Clive Lloyd fined him half his match fee for altering the condition of the ball during a one-day game in Australia. A few months later, he declared India’s innings when Sachin Tendulkar was six runs short of a double century against Pakistan in the Multan Test. There is a passing mention of that.
Prabhudesai focuses entirely on Dravid’s international career, glossing over his life off the field. There’s more to Dravid than just his superb batsmanship. His interest in wildlife conservation and his campaign to spread HIV-AIDS awareness and polio eradication, for instance.
