He has been the quiet motivator, who stayed behind the scenes. Yet when Sharad Dravid alighted from his car at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Friday morning, there was no running away from the belated limelight. Photographers tailed him as he occupied a front row seat well ahead of Rahul Dravid's retirement speech.
Later, Sharad Dravid was almost lost in the melee of television scribes before he moved away.
Dravid Senior had earlier spoken, over phone, of Rahul's decision with pride over phone.
“I feel quite satisfied with Rahul's journey and what he has achieved. It has been a fairly long journey, a good journey. He has achieved what ever was expected of him.
“The game is such that you have to retire at some stage. His focus, intensity and concentration helped him achieve all this.
“He had spoken of retirement after he got back from Australia, but it was last week that he sat down with us and told us about his decision. He asked for our views, and we said that it is his call and if he feels that way then he is the best person to take it forward,” he said.
Sharad Dravid used to watch every innings of Rahul's, often recording them for posterity and then debating the finer details over long-distance calls with his son.
Pressed to reflect on his favourite knock, Sharad Dravid said: “I have watched every innings, and it is difficult to pick one but yes I will cherish his 95 on his debut Test at Lord's. It is such a revered place and, while growing up I used to listen to radio commentary and feel thrilled to hear about players like Walter Hammond walking down those steps.
“And to see Rahul walk down those same steps was something special. I saw that innings on television at a friend's place.”
A proud father will now miss seeing his son in whites, walking in at one-down and quelling aggressive bowlers.
