Having come ridiculously close - time and time again - under Rahul Dravid, an ICC tournament for India represented a mountain still to be scaled. However, there are no fairy tales in life, especially in sport. Not for a milli-second can one hope or expect it - but it felt that cricket was willing to compromise for once. (More Cricket News|Full Coverage)
It also just felt fitting that a sport so mean, a sport that has inflicted so much heartbreak, held out its hand for Dravid to climb through a rough period at one point of time, and now has its arms around his shoulder during his first-ever ICC trophy for the senior men’s team - one he had never won as a player.
And as poetic as it can get, 17 years after Rahul Dravid suffered immense heartache crashing out of the World Cup as India captain not more than 380 km away in Port of Spain, he wins the T20 World Cup in Barbados on his final day as India head coach.
It has not been easy, but is glory ever? However, Dravid, away from the limelight, from the hype, has just not won the T20 World Cup for India, but has climbed the mountain called greatness. The legacy of what he’s done goes beyond. Beyond the win, beyond the title, beyond the championship, to change how India play the sport.
A humble, genuine, hardworking boy, born in Madhya Pradesh, made in Karnataka took up cricket and it all made sense. Right away. There would be setbacks but he just kept at it, in the face of failure and had held it together with a lot of heart - as big as the county he played for.
The minute India clinched the World Cup, Dravid let out a fist-pump with emotions that knew no bounds - when was the last time that had happened? Probably when he passed his math exam?
The Indian head coach has always made sure of the ‘we’ rather than the ‘I’ and someone who had selflessness beyond measure. That was the case before the final when asked if India would want to do it for him?
"It's totally against who I am as a person and it's totally against my values. You know, I don't really believe in this 'Do it for somebody'. I love that quote about somebody asking somebody else, 'Why do you want to climb Mount Everest?' and he says 'I want to climb Mount Everest because it's there. Why do we want to win this World Cup? because it's there," Dravid was quoted as saying by Star Sports.
"It's not for anyone, it's not for anybody, it's just there to win. I just want to play good cricket and yeah, doing it for someone is totally against who I am as a person and what I believe in so I don't want to talk about it and discuss it. If you can get that campaign removed, I will appreciate it," he added.
As much as he did not want it, cricket had other plans. It knew that he just might not turn up again - a possibility after he has given so much to the sport. Well, cricket does not owe anyone a penny, but rather it thought that it needed to give Dravid what he had deserved.
The impact he has had on Indian cricket, the players, is something very deep. Even if it’s from this very team, with the likes of Rishabh Pant and Arshdeep Singh, Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma and even Virat Kohli.
He was also instrumental in Avesh Khan and Khaleel Ahmed’s lives - both part of the reserves that travelled with the Indian side.
For cricket not to play its part after all that? Unfair? Dravid would not agree, but cricket did give him a good hug, under the same skies that saw him cry, he was served a sweet dish called redemption - because cricket knew he was always there and then he just won’t be - the fear of guilt that the sport had on Dravid’s last day as India head coach saw him fighting, and trophy lifting.
However, nothing will fill the void Dravid is about to leave. It’s like those days where we were with our loved ones and suddenly, they aren’t there. Unimaginable. It will hurt. Imagine leaving such an impact, imagine being loved by the fans equally as a player and a coach, and imagine leaving a void so big - that it could hurt an entire nation.
No matter how long Indian cricket will prepare or tell itself, it just seems hard to think that it will ever be ready for Dravid to leave.
