Rahul Dravid ultimate team man, game's most committed student: VVS Laxman

NEW DELHI: VVS Laxman has paid a rich tribute to Rahul Dravid, saying the former India skipper was the ultimate team man who responded to every challenge that came his way with complete dedication.

"The game's most committed student, Rahul was the ultimate team man, responding to every challenge with complete dedication," Laxman said in a tweet on Wednesday.

"Despite being in a position to say 'no', he not only kept wicket in white-ball cricket and opened the batting in Tests, but did so with utmost diligence," he added.

Dravid represented India in 164 Tests, 344 ODIs and one T20I in which he scored 13288, 10899 and 31 runs respectively. During his career, the right-handed batsman also served as the wicket-keeper in 73 ODIs between the period from 1999-2004 in which he affected 84 dismissals, including 71 catches and 13 stumpings.

Laxman and Dravid were part of the massive 376-run partnership during the memorable 2001 Kolkata Test against Australia that eventually dug India out of a pit and helped them register one of the most famous wins in the history of Test cricket.

With off-spinner Harbhajan Singh picking up a hat-trick and registering figures of 6/73, India won the contest by 171 runs at the Eden Gardens. That victory ended Australia's 16-match winning streak while this Test was only the third instance in history when a team had won a match after being enforced to follow-on.

Popularly known as "The Wall", Dravid bid adieu to international cricket in 2012.