Dravid recalls one of his best catching efforts

200-catches man Rahul Dravid recalls one of his best efforts

Ask Rahul Dravid for his top five Test catches and he'll struggle. After pushing him a bit, he comes up with a couple.

Yesterday, Dravid became the first man to claim 200 catches in Test cricket when he caught Dale Steyn off Harbhajan Singh on the second day of the Durban Test against South Africa.


India's Rahul Dravid (left) takes a brilliant catch to dismiss Australian
batsman Mark Waugh as spinner Harbhajan Singh and wicketkeeper
Sameer Dighe celebrate on Day Four of the third Test at
M A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on March 21, 2001.u00a0 PIC/AFP

He recalls holding on to one from Australia's Damien Martyn off Sachin Tendulkar in the Adelaide Test of 2003 which India won. He was the batting star (233 and 72 not out) of that win which helped India go one-up in the four-match series, something which was never achieved by an Indian team in Australia. Another memorable catch according to Dravid, was the one taken at backward short leg off Harbhajan Singh to dismiss Mark Waugh in the Chennai Test of 2001. India won that game too! Here's how Cricinfo described it: "Harbhajan Singh tossed up an off break on middle and off that gripped the wicket and spun into the right hander. Going back and across Waugh turned the ball round the corner. Rahul Dravid at backward short leg, showed superb reflexes, plucked the ball out of the air. Waugh had made 57 (142 mins, 139 balls, 7 fours), the highest by an Australian at that point."

Typical of the man, he felt his teammates (the bowlers) played a big role in this rare feat. "I have played with some of the world's best bowlers like Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. I took at least 100 catches off these guys. Initially, it was Javagal Srinath and now it's Zaheer Khan ufffd (his partners in 'crime'). It's also a kind of recognition to some good Indian bowling," Dravid told MiD DAY before embarking on his tour of South Africa.
Obviously, the feat has been achieved after a lot of work during training sessions. "It's nice to take so many catches. I practiced very hard for the slip catches and it's nice to see the results,"
he added.