Rahul Dravid was born in 1973 in Indore, India to a professor mother and businessman father. He started playing cricket at age 12 and represented India at various youth levels before making his debut for the national Test team in 1996. Known for his solid batting technique, Dravid had a successful international career scoring over 10,000 runs and was considered one of the best batsmen of his generation, helping transform Indian cricket. In his personal life, he married surgeon Vijeta Pendharkar in 2003 and they have two sons.

1. Rahul Dravid
The player and the man

2. Born on January 11 1973, Rahul came into a Maharashtrian Deshastha family in
Indore. His father worked in a company which made jams (hence the nickname
Jammy) while his mother was a professor of architecture.

3. Dravid started playing cricket at the age of 12, and represented the state at the
under-15, under-17 and under-19 level.

4. Rahul's talents were first spotted by former cricketer Keki Tarapore who was coaching at
a summer coaching camp. He went on to score a double century for his school on debut

5. The talent to play cricket was in Dravid as much as in any youngster his age. He was
selected to make his Ranji Trophy debut in February 1991 against Maharashtra in Pune

6. Opportunities came thick and fast since and he made his Test debut for India in 1996
against England.

7. Although busy cracking runs, Dravid also attended St. Joseph's College of Commerce in
Bangalore.

8. He however, soon joined ranks with fellow greats like VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly and
Sachin tendulkar to usher India into a new age of fierce and solid cricket. Dravid's main
weapon was his solid technique with the bat.

9. Considered the heartthrob of the entire country, Dravid chose to break many when he
married Vijeta Pendharkar, a surgeon from Nagpur in 2003.

10. The couple have two sons - Samit (born 2005) and Anvay (born 2009).

11. Laurels came thick and fast for Dravid who has always been grateful to his parents and
has thanked them for helping him achieve the things he has.