March 9th 2012 will be considered as a bad day for the Indians as Rahul Dravid retires from the International Cricket.
The media room at the Chinnaswamy stadium (venue of Dravid’s
exit press conference) had the national press trickling in much before the
scheduled start. The mood was already nostalgic and the Karnataka State
Cricket Association contributed by greeting everyone with despondent
instrumental music from ‘Veer Zaara’ (Tere liye, hum hain jiye, honton ko
siye…Dil mein magar, jalte rahe, chaahat ke diye).
Shortly after, in walked the man of the moment - Rahul Sharad Dravid with his father,
wife and young sons by his side to be part of his farewell.
Rahul Dravid's retirement speech
I would like to announce my retirement from international
and domestic first-class cricket. It has been 16 years since I first played a
Test match for India,
and I feel it's time for me to move on. Once I was like every other boy in India, with a
dream of playing for my country. Yet I could never have imagined a journey so
long and so fulfilling. I have had a wonderful time, but now it is time for a
new generation of young players to make their own history and take the Indian
cricket team even further.