They say it's best to retire when people ask 'why' rather than 'why not'. At 39, things weren't getting easy for Rahul Dravid. Ageing reflexes meant he took just a fraction of a second more than he would otherwise, before reacting. The results were for everyone to see.
A few catches went down in slips and the unbreachable wall being broken through with ease. What hurt was not the fact that he didn't make runs, but the ease with which he was being dismissed.
Error in judgement is not something Dravid has been associated with, but unfortunately that was increasingly becoming the reason for his dismissals. What else can explain the fact that he was out bowled in six out of the eight innings he batted in his final tour, of Australia?
Anyone who has watched him bat for over a decade, would know that Dravid seldom paid the price for his technical deficiencies, in a career which has seen him score centuries in all Test playing nations.
A lot of people in hindsight reckon Dravid should have retired after the England tour, where he made three tons while the rest of the side struggled. Hopes of a better show in Australia was only fair to assume, but that isn't how sport works sometimes.
It's possible he would have personally been hurt with each and every dismissal of hi apart from the team's poor performance. It could have possibly taken a lot of introspection to arrive at this decision, which he felt was right. So, let us respect that.
With more than 24,000 international runs, each of which has been built like a civil Engineer overseeing the foundation of his structure, Dravid has ensured he has he has build a big base for the younger generation to look up to.
Instead of making a hue and cry about a very personal decision of someone who has given us undivided joy over the years, we should celebrate his career and remember him for his on-field exploits, after all no one has made more sacrifices than 'The Wall' in the history of Indian cricket.
