News Clips
This is a collection of excerpts from sports reports that have featured on other sites.

The latest Pepsi cricket ratings are out and, perhaps to no one's surprise, the most dramatic climb up the ladder is that of Rahul Dravid, now standing fourth in the world one day rankings, way ahead of his captain Sachin Tendulkar in the number 16 slot. 
Another interesting fact is that Robin Singh, no less, ranks 10th in the list of bowlers -- while Abey Kuruvilla comes in at number 15, and Anil Kumble even lower, at number 16. 
Adam Hollioake, elder of the Hollioake brothers who did splendidly well for England in the recent 3-0 wipeout of Australia in the Texaco series, heads the batting list, while Nathan Astle of New Zealand tops the list of bowlers. 
Ranking second to Hollioake is team-mate Graham Thorpe, with Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka coming in at number three and Dravid following on his heels. Jayasuriya and Dravid are, in fact, separated by a mere 54 points. 
Pakistan batsman Saeed Anwar, who recently broke the world record for the highest one day score, comes in 7th -- thanks, mainly, to the fact that he did not fare well in the other three matches of the Independence Cup. 
 

Meanwhile, what of Rahul Dravid? In his first year on the international circuit, the young batsman with nerves of chilled steel has already crossed the 1,000-run mark in both types of cricket -- 1,039 runs at an outstanding average of 51.95 in 14 Tests, and 1,065 runs at an impressive average of 35.50 in 35 one-day internationals. 
What is interesting, besides Dravid's individual figures, are the number of century partnerships he has been associated in.

Dravid,Bhardwaj flay UP attack

BANGALORE, April 21 (PTI) 

A brilliant unbeaten 209 by skipper Rahul Dravid and a dashing 122 by Vijay Bhardwaj put Karnataka in a commanding position at close on the third day of the Ranji Trophy final against Uttar Pradesh at Chinnaswamy Stadium here today.
Karnataka added 316 runsto the overnight score of 284 for three to finish at 600 for six in reply to UP's first innings score of 134.
Dravid, 40 overnight, crawled a little in the initial stages of day and took 14 minutes to score a run but got into business quickly and got the first boundary in the 41st minuteoff Zaidi.
Both batsmen scored in tandemand were at their best. Dravid's straight drives were a delight to watch.His unbeaten 209 contained 25 fours and two sixes. The first huge six was an effortless one over long on off Shamshad in the 92nd over followed bya hook off Zaidi.

This is Dravid's second double century. His maiden double century was in 1992-93 against Andhra at the same venue. 
Vijay Bhardwaj, who topped the scoring table for the season with 617 runs in 10 matches, continued to be the leader. His 122 (329 min. 248 balls, 14x4) and Dravid's 209 (497 min. 338 balls, 25x4, 2x6) were undoubtedly the highlight of the day. Their partnership realised 257 runs for the fourth wicket. 
Uttar Pradesh took the new ball after 86 overs but Zaidi proved to be too costly and in his first over gave away 10 runs as Dravid struck a six and a boundary to deep square-leg. 
Luck smiled on the visitors when Ubaid struck in his third spell getting rid of Bharadwaj (122), caught in the covers by skipper Gyanendra Pandoy. 
The fourth-wicket partnership of 257 runs between Dravid and Bharadwaj set a new record obliterating the 117-run stand between Brijesh Patel and Sudhakara Rao in 1981-82 against Bombay. 
Dravid's 150 runs comprised 19 fours and two sixes off Zaidi. Ubaid scalped another wicket as Sunil Joshi (2) did not stay for long and returned to the pavilion offering a simple catch to Shamshad at first skip. 
D. S. Ananth and Dravid compiled 52 runs for the sixth wicket before Ananth (27) was caught behind by Mudgal off Pandey after Yadav at silly point tossed up the ball for the wicket keeper to complete the catch. 
Straguppi (batting 27), who joined Dravid after Ananth's exit, held out till draw of stumps putting on 58 runs for the seventh wicket. 
It may be recalled that in the 1977-78 Ranji final at Mohan Nagar, Uttar Pradesh were all out for 129 in their first innings and 112 in the second knock. Karnataka won the trophy by an innings and 193 runs, under the captaincy of E.A.S. Prasanna. 
Uttar Pradesh: 134. 
Karnataka: 1st innings: 600 for 6 
S. Somasunder c Shukla b Shamshad 68, J. Arunkumar c Mudgal b Zaidi 104, F. Khaleel b Zaidi 31, R. Dravid batting 209, V.R. Bharadwaj c Pandey b Ubaidkamal 122, S. Joshi c Shamshad b Ubaid Kamal 2, D. S. Ananth c Mudgal b Pandey 14, S. Straguppi batting 27 

Dravid elated on hitting second century ( 9th Oct. 1998- Test against Zimbabwe )

(Century made on 8th Oct. 118 runs, 17 fours)
HARARE: Cooling his middle finger in cold water after hitting a patient unbeaten century, Rahul Dravid was understandably elated after his second test ton which guided India to a first innings lead over Zimbabwe in the one-off test here. "I am pleased but would be more so if India manages to win the test in the end," said Dravid. As for the injury he sustained on his finger during the early part of his innings, he said it was painful but there was no fracture. 
Dravid was happy over India's batting rate: "242 runs from a day's play is not slow scoring in a test match." These are early periods of consolidation and we are looking to make as many runs as possible in the first innings. The Karnataka batsman said the pitch was a sporting one and offered something to the bowlers all through. "It had a bit of bounce but strokeplay was not difficult." Dravid picked Heath Streak as Zimbabwe's best bowler despite Henry Olonga returning the best figures of 4/50. In his career spanning 23 tests, the Karnataka batsman has been out in the 90's on five occasions. 
Did it bother him in the middle today when he reached the dreaded figure? "Getting out in the 90's, frankly, has never bothered me. It has upset others more than it has me. For me, my innings is important if it helps the team." His first hundred is special for him. "It always is a special one, however, this might turn out to be better hundred for me, if India manages to win the test," Dravid said. Dravid scored his first ton against South Africa almost two years ago, reports PTI. 

Excerpt from the 3rd NZ Test report (Jan 2nd,1999)

..It was left to Prasad to edge Wiseman to backward point to take India into the lead, and with Dravid going past his highest in Tests and looking good to bat on forever, India went in to tea at 373/8 off 117 overs, having made 104 runs in the second session off 31 overs. 
When, just after tea, Dravid cracked Doull through the covers to take India to 380, India recorded the highest score made on this ground. Dravid then got into the act, a superlative on drive and a cracking square drive bringing up the 400 of the Indian innings. Dravid appeared to have a lot of confidence in his stablemate, taking singles when on offer even when that meant letting Prasad take quite a few balls in the over. 
For his part, Prasad -- as he did at the Basin Reserve -- put a price on his wicket, gritting it out and refusing to succumb to the pressure the Kiwis turned on. With the field full in, the lanky medium pacer went through with a few drives when the ball was pitched up, the ball racing for the fence once the close in fielders were beaten. 
Dravid looked good to become the first of contemporary Indian batsmen to reach the 200 mark -- but at 190, weariness more than anything else told on the number three, as he wafted a square drive straight down point's throat to end an innings it is impossible to overpraise. With very little support at the other end, he kept his concentration going, and -- until Srinath and Prasad came along to assist him -- almost single-handedly ensured that India wouldn't be battling defeat yet again. The feature of his innings was the willingness to wait, to respect the good deliveries - and 31 boundaries indicate the ease with which he dealt with any looseness of line and length...

Dravid is better than Tendulkar (!)

Former world number one Sachin Tendulkar has dropped to third place in the latest PriceWaterhouse Coopers Test batting rankings, released today after the conclusion of the India-New Zealand and South Africa-West Indies Tests. 
Rahul Dravid has leapfrogged Tendulkar into second place, with Steve Waugh continuing at number one. 
 Dravid reached his highest ranking score of 862 points after scoring 190 and 103 not out in the Third Test against New Zealand which ended at Hamilton today. Ironically Tendulkar, who has been tussling with Waugh for first 
place for the past few months, has also reached his highest score under the ranking formula, with 852. 

The top ten batsmen are: 1. Steve Waugh (Aus, 878 pts), 2. Rahul Dravid
(Ind, 862), 3. Sachin Tendulkar (Ind, 852), 4. Saeed Anwar (Pak, 781), 5. 
Mark Waugh (Aus, 771), 6. Brian Lara (WI, 769), 7. Alec Stewart (Eng, 768), 
8. Aravinda de Silva (SL, 734), 9. Nasser Hussain (Eng, 723), 10. Hansie 
Cronje (SA, 705). 

The top ten bowlers are: 1. Allan Donald (SA, 868 pts), 2. Curtly Ambrose 
(WI, 846), 3. Shaun Pollock (SA, 838), 4. Glenn McGrath (Aus, 808), 5. Simon 
Doull (NZ, 795), 6. Mutiah Muralitharan (SL, 787), 7. Stuart MacGill (Aus, 
753), 8. Waqar Younis (Pak, 740), 9. Anil Kumble (Ind, 729), 10. Angus 
Fraser (Eng, 721). 

Excerpt from the 1st NZ ODI report (Jan 9th, 1999)
...At the other end, Rahul Dravid notched up his third successive century in internationals, his second ODI hundred coming on the heels of a century in both innings in the recently completed third Test. The confidence of having two tons under his belt was evident as he played his strokes from the first ball he faced. But more than the runs scored -- 123 not out off 124 balls -- what will interest the national selectors are two facets of his batting on  the day. 
 The first pertains to singles -- Dravid had 59 of them in his three figure knock. And the other pertains to the quality of the strokeplay -- time and again Dravid, a batsman known for playing in the V and keeping it along the ground, showed a willingness to go over the infield, hitting on the up  with precision and timing. It was these two factors that he had been asked to work on, by the national selectors -- taking singles to rotate the strike, and innovating to maintain a healthy strike rate. On the evidence, it would seem that the number three batsman is in fact working on his perceived defects -- his performance in the matches to come will, for that very reason, be watched very keenly...

Excerpt from the 4th NZ ODI report (Jan 17th, 1999)

...Equally instrumental was Dravid -- the standout performer on this tour. Much maligned for slow scoring on the flat subcontinental tracks that suit the slam bang types, the right handed number three has, on foreign soil and in conditions helpful to pace and swing, produced innings after innings that serves to underline his credentials -- and this was one such, with fluent
strokeplay on both sides of the track being the highlight. Indicative of his changed approach was his classical inside out lift over extra cover, for six, off Daniel Vettori -- a stroke he is seen to be playing regularly, for the first time in his career, on this tour. 
 Dravid left in the over immediately after Ganguly's departure, Cairns pitching one further up just outside off and seaming it in, the batsman initially shaping to run it down to third man, then opting for defence as he saw the ball dart back in. The change of mind proved fatal, the ball sneaking through to take off stump. 

Dravid honoured
The Hindu - 09 February 1999 
NEW DELHI, Feb. 8. Rahul Dravid received the 'Thomson Most Valuable Player Award' at a simple function on Saturday, for his stupendous showing on the recent tour to New Zealand. Dravid was presented with a 46-inch Projection television from Thomson. 
While receiving the award, Dravid expressed his gratitude and also said that it should not be forgotten that cricket was a team game and each member contributes to the success. 
Former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth wished Dravid well and hoped that he would continue his splendid run. 
Previously, Sachin Tendulkar had bagged the 'Thomson Master Blaster' during the India-West Indies 1997 series and the 'Thomson Most Valuable Performer' for the India-Australia Test series in 1998. Ajay Jadeja was named the 'Thomson Superstar' for the India-Australia-Zimbabwe one-day series in 1998. - Our Special Correspondent. 
Rahul Dravid, who received the 'Thomson Most Valuable Player' award, listens in rapt attention to former India captain K. Srikkanth, at the presentation function in New Delhi on Saturday. 

Azhar on NZ Trip
For us the greatest gain from this Test has been the emergence of Rahul Dravid. I think he played a tremendous innings. Right from the time he faced the first ball he gave us enough indications that he was very determined to stay at the crease. 

We all wanted Dravid to do well because there never was any doubt about his calibre. It was just a matter of realising his potential and I was particularly pleased with the way he got his runs. That he played shots was also a very positive sign and I am sure it would have done a world of good to Dravid's confidence. 

After a long time an Indian batsman has scored a century in each innings of a Test. Sunil Gavaskar was the last one and we all felt happy for Dravid. He deserved the distinction after having gone through a torrid time in the earlier Test. He carried the team on his shoulders and it was nice to see him among the runs. 

On Rahul's Bowling.... (excerpt)
Azhar got his thinking right at this point, keeping his quicks well away from the firing line and concentrating on rotating the slow bowlers. The use of Rahul Dravid was very well conceived -- Dravid bowls flat, quick off spin and manages to keep the line wicket to wicket, and his introduction was a very good move by the Indian captain. 

Dravid's brief was to keep the runs down and continue the good work of the regular spinners -- the wicket of Anwar, for 95, was by way of a bonus. While bowling, Dravid appears to think like a batsman -- thus, for the left-hander, he consistently went round the wicket and angled in to off, denying room. He then sent one quicker, flatter, and a touch wide of off, Anwar slashed, and the edge was held by Mongia to end a very fluent, attractive innings by the prolific Pakistan opener.