New Delhi: It was a year when Sourav Ganguly's ouster made more news than Rahul Dravid's appointment as captain of Team India and the angry crowd in Kolkata would vouch for that.
But Dravid proved to be an astute captain within a short time as India recorded stunning victories in the second half of the year to rise to No. 2 in Test rankings and retain its fifth place on the ODI ladder.
We take a look at one of the contenders for our Indian sportsperson of the year, Rahul 'The Wall' Dravid.
The Mr. Dependable has bailed the team out countless times with his near perfect batting and when the leadership of Team India faltered, there was only one man to steady the ship.
With a new coach and a new vision the team got a new captain in 2005 and it the elevation did not come as a surprise for Dravid as being the vice-captain for the past many years had him ready for the hot seat.
Dravid was made captain before the ODI series against Sri Lanka and South Africa and, silently but solidly, he tried to put fresh zeal and enthusiasm back in the team.
New players, different strategies and experimentation were the new mantras and the results followed quickly - The World No. 2 One-Day side Sri Lanka was humiliated 6-1.
The Proteas were matched move by move as the home series ended 2-2 that was followed by a convincing series win against the lankans in the longer version of the game.
But captaincy did not hamper his batting - it made it better as he score more than a thousand runs in the year in the ODIs. In Test matches he averaged almost 54 for his 640 runs.
While every one is talking about coach Greg Chappell and his effect on Indian cricket, Dravid's contribution has virtually gone unnoticed.
But that's the Dravid way of doing things - quiet and precise.
The year gone by is a reason to celebrate Dravid's leadership, maturity and class.
An ideal man to lead Indian cricket in 2006 where big challenges and tougher opponents will be a true test of character for him and the team.
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