Rahul Dravid: Timeless Steel

RAHUL DRAVID - TIMELESS STEEL

I received this book within 24hours of its release. Thank you flipkart

I'm also a hardcore Rahul Dravid fan like many of you out here. First of all there shouldn't be a second thought in ordering this book. This book is a bible if you worship The Rahul Dravid. Don't be surprised if you shed tears while reading this book. It gives an insight on Rahul Dravid, A true Gentleman, A fierce competitor, A hard worker, An eternal student, An inspiration and much more.

This book is a collection of 30 pieces. Each story on Rahul Dravid brings out the essence of his character, his grit and passion for this game. However the writings of Sambit Bal, Ed Smith, Vijeeta Dravid, Sidharth Monga stand out for me. His talent, his technique is broken down into component parts and it has been presented beautifully. This book gives his clear picture on being the most evolved cricketer in this era. RAHUL DRAVID - TIMELESS STEEL clears all your doubt if you hesitate to call him The Greatest Test Cricketer. Read this book to know how THE WALL acquired greatness, what’s Rahul Dravid's style of answering the critics, why is he referred as A Gentleman champion of timeless steel and dignity?

This book gives the insight of his best knocks in Kolkata, Headingley, Adelaide, Rawalpindi, Jamaica and Nottingham. Experiences of John Wright, Jason Gillespie, Suresh Raina, Greg Chappel, Ed Smith on his role as the rock around which the rest moved, Gentleman Champion, Eternal Student, Mentor and a tough Fighter.

RAHUL DRAVID - TIMELESS STEEL enlightens on his Dignity, Grace, conscience, and "The Perfectionist" penned by his Wife Vijeeta.

It also features some of the best interviews of Dravid and The Bradman Oration.
So all in all its the bible. Classical sportsmen are endangered species. As he is retired from all the formats you will no longer see him taking guard with that familiar hint of politeness, No longer will he raise his bat to the crowd as if he is genuinely thanking them for the applause. Dravid declared his innings closed.

To all countrymen, you’re blessed to be living in the era of Rahul Dravid. Show him your love. Order the book now.

Karunakar Dev

I had ordered the book after reading the review by Karunakar Dev, though I have been a hardcore fan of Rahul Dravids style of play eversince i was a kid. Believe me, you will shed tears while reading the book. The book not only talks of his cricketing excellence but his sheer humane qualities, team spirit, true gentleman and very aggressive player.

There is a lot in the book for everyone. we all can apply things we read into the book onto our lives for the better. I work for an Insurance Company and have nothing to do with cricket(professionally), yet the book taught me the significance of teamspirit and has changed my perspective of how i looked at my peers at my workplace.

Sidhart Monga(Those who browse cricinfo, will be familiar with), Ed Smith, Sanjay Bangar, Greg Chappel & Vijeetha Dravid give us a glimpse of dravid we have never heard or seen before. The book highlights rare qualites you see in todays sportpersons, gentleman aggression, how to be a fierce competitor and yet finish your career without any scandals in an era of glamour, money and overhype.

The Timeless Steel is no doubt the perfect title for the book. The man is just perfect, perfect batsman, perfect teammate, perfect gentleman, perfect competitor and above all a perfect ambassdor of the game and a perfect role model for all. People say that Rahul is not as gifted as Sachin, Lara or a Sehwag, but it is his mental toughness which puts him above all.

Be it his 140 in headingly, or 233 in Adelaide, or 180 in Eden Gardens, Get ready to relive all those memories. Esp the article on his 180 in Kolkata against Aus makes you time travel to 2001 to Eden Gardens. The book shows how much respect he commands all over the globe, from journlists, from players, from friends.The emphasis he puts on adaptation, is something very few sportspersons talk about.

After finshing the book i was feeling all these years we never realised what value the man added to the team. No other cricketer can inspire you much as Rahul Dravid does. We have been honoured to live in an era where we grew up watching Rahul Dravid. Do make a point to read the book, not only to honour the legend but because there will definitely be something that you can learn from Dravid's life, and can apply on your life, and that will make you a better person.

Most inspiring book ever.....

Rahul Dravid - the player - would be surely missed by Team India, especially in Tests. The vacuum created by his retirement needs to be filled as soon as possible, though it will be difficult to find an able replacement - a true all-rounder in the correct sense, a dependable batsman, leader, thinker, slip fielder, wicketkeeper, noncontroversial, elegant gentleman, a crisis man or rather A GO TO MAN - as the title rightly suggests. Timeless Steel is a nice attempt which reminisces the best of Dravid's cricket, which incidentally also happens to be India's best overseas Test Cricket of the last 16 years.
The Book is a wonderful read for all Dravid fans, though I personally feel a lot of his other Innings should also have been included
1. His first Test century (148 & 81) against SA at Johannesburg, which India could not win due to the last 2 wickets
2. His centuries in each innings (110 & 135) against Pakistan at the Eden gardens, which India won
3. His 93 against Aussies on a Perch scorcher, which India won by 72 runs to keep the series alive after the ugly episode in Melbourne earlier.
Overall a nice concept by ESPN-Cricinfo to highlight the best of Dravid and his contribution to Team India - both On & OFF the Field - in terms of Cricket.
Just to add, I finished reading the entire piece of Timeless Steel in just under 2 days, not compromising on any other daily routine.
keep it up ESPN-cricinfo & YOU SIR, Dravid - We Will Miss You.

You may be or may not be the cricket fan, but you need to read this book to know about the greatest legend for all time. Dravid was not only just a cricketer, but he is a gentleman and a person to follow. I'm sure, whoever reads this book will feel it and shed tears for the difficulties faced by him and for sure will be inspired with it.

You can see his effort and dedication to play cricket. He always did his job with passion and pride. The special thing about Dravid is his patience and calmness, that is really difficulty to have.

He played for the Country by sacrificing his milestones. You'll be succeeded only when you try to do with 100% effort to complete your job. Dravid was the person with best execution formula. His formula was to keep learning till the last day he batted. You should always aim to be perfect but never think that you're perfect.

So if you want learn something from "Timeless Steel", then please read this book. I'm sure, it is more than worth for this price.
You'll surely learn a lot, if you read this book.

In this era, we never expected the end of the legends carrier. I hope, he continues it in other format. We really miss him. I pray for me with whole hearted for the great WALL of cricket.

Finally, I thank him for serving Country and the cricket for 17 years.
Hats off!!!!!

This book is simply amazing. I got it yesterday and I spent all evening reading it and all night making a wikipedia page about it. Go to this link for details about the sections and the articles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rahul_Dravid:_Timeless_Steel&pe=1&

Price-worthiness: 10/10
Hardback, Dust Jacketed, 256 large pages including 18 pages of rare colour pictures chronicling Dravid's career. What more do you want?

Content: 8/10
Contrary to popular belief, 13 of the 25 articles are original to this book. 12 of them have previously appeared in media, especially on ESPNcricinfo website. But don't let this fool you. The book features a detailed version in most cases.

Plus 4 Dravid interviews, including an unabridged version of the Sambit Bal interview he gave just after retirement.

As a bonus, the full text of the Bradman Oration is there.

And the predictable career statistics. Extensive.

Readability: 9/10
Minor typos and proofreading oversights. But you can't put this down once you begin.

The best part is the compartmentalisation. One articles focuses solely on his captaincy. One interview is exclusively about Dravid the slip fielder.

The testimonials by fellow cricketers and coaches are very moving.

Six of innings are remembered in a blow-by-blow account. The article on Kolkata innings, remembered for Laxman's 281, provides a refreshingly new Dravid perspective.

The article by his wife and some articles by his friends are very insightful.

If you are a Dravid fan, you have got to buy this.