Indian Legend, Rahul Dravid retires

Rahul Dravid had retired from international cricket after 16 years of fine service. Rahul Dravid was one of cricket’s best classical batsmen scoring 13,288 Test runs, 2nd best after Tendulkar, and 10,889 one-day international runs.

Rahul Dravid's retirement from international cricket was announced at his home ground, the Chinnaswamy Stadium, in a function room filled with more than 200 people. Family, team-mates, friends, KSCA members, officials and journalists had gathered - as did fans watching a live broadcast on national television.

Dravid told that his dicission was not sudden but came with his long thoughts.

"I didn't take the decision based on one series… these decisions are based on a lot of other things, it's the culmination of a lot of things. I don't think it's based on what happened in the last series. For each one it comes differently, for me it's come with a bit of contemplation, a bit of thought, with friends and family."

On his return from Australia, Dravid spent a month, taking out the "emotion" from the overall result in order to "look at things dispassionately," he said. At the end he said, "I came to this decision and when I came to it, I was very clear in my mind." It had, he said, been easy as it was difficult, that he had known "deep down in his heart" that it was time for the "next generation of the young Indian cricketer" to take over.

It was tough to leave "the life I have lived for 16 years and, before that, five years of first class cricket. It [cricket] is all I have known all my grown life … it wasn't a difficult decision for me because I just knew in my heart that the time was right, and I was very happy and comfortable in what I had achieved and what I had done. You just know deep down that it is time to move on and let the next generation take over… "