How did Rahul Dravid get the name 'The Wall'?

We all call Rahul Dravid ‘the wall’ without a second thought like it is his real name. But how did he get that name? And who was it that called him ‘the wall’ first? While talking to Vikram Sathaye in his show What The Duck, Dravid said that it was after one of his long knocks that he saw a headline which read ‘The Wall’.

The former Indian skipper was famous for his tough resistance and marathon knocks. He loved to get under the skin of the bowlers by not sledging them but plainly blocking the fastest of the deliveries pushed his way. Over the years, he helped India to a list of Test wins and draws. His knocks helped them walk away with a draw from a situation where a defeat looked inevitable and that is probably why this name ‘The Wall’ went down so easy.

Rahul said, “I can’t remember exactly the first time but I know where it sort of came out from, where it originated. I think, it probably came out after one of my long, typically, may be boring innings but when I saw the headline, ‘The Wall’.”

He also said that when he reflects back at his career, he definitely agrees that whoever coined this term was a smart individual. “I think later on, a reflection after going through my career, I really thought that it was really clever boy or girl sitting on a desk in some newspaper office somewhere. Actually, looking into the future and sort of decided, okay, let’s name him ‘The Wall’ today in a really positive sense,” he said.

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“But also we can flip that around for our future headlines, which could be ‘The Wall’ crumbles or another break in ‘The Wall’, or ‘The Wall’ fell down. As it happened, when I went through a bad patch, later on, I saw those headlines elsewhere in the newspaper. So, I think someone really clever in a newspaper office somewhere sitting there decided you know this is a good one for the future.”

Dravid went on to represent India in 164 Tests and 344 ODIs and has over 13,000 runs in the longest format of the game and over 10,000 in 50 overs cricket. He is the fourth highest run getter in Tests and is led by eight men in ODIs. More importantly his runs came when the team needed him the most and the opposition knew, if they had to win the game, they had to get rid of Rahul Dravid before he built a solid base for ‘The Wall’ knock.