One of the greatest batsmen of world cricket, Rahul Dravid celebrated his 43rd birthday on Monday.
Dravid who is currently the coach of the Indian U-19 team, uploaded an animated video on his Facebook page on Tuesday narrating his story from a young cricketer who made his Ranji debut at 18 to his formative years in domestic cricket before making his international debut in 1996.
Rahul Dravid - My First Class JourneyThank you for all the wonderful birthday wishes. I was told today that 43 is the new 18. So let me share a story that started almost 25 years ago. - RD
Posted by Rahul Dravid on Monday, 11 January 2016
The whole film, which is narrated by Dravid himself, starts with him narrating an incident about how he, along with his teammates had to sleep on their kit bags once in an unreserved compartment, as their manager had forgotten to buy the tickets.
He also speaks about how his roommates during tours, would be surprised if not annoyed with his odd hours of shadow practice or his late night reading habits.
In the short six-minute clip with illustrations by cartoonist Satish Acharya, Dravid recounts his first cap in Ranji Trophy at 18, his first century at the Eden Gardens and his never-ending love affair with the ground, to lead the Karnataka side to Ranji victory.
He thanks officials of the Karnataka cricket association and the Ranji Trophy tournament for grooming him to face the rigours of international cricket.
The clip concludes with him recollecting how then captain Azharuddin told him that he would make his international debut at Lords just prior to the toss.