RAHUL DRAVID great innings come to end
GREAT WALL OF INDIA will announce his retirement from international cricket on Friday, ending a career that underpinned India's rise to the top of the sport. Dravid, 39, has called a press conference in Bangalore that will also be attended by N Srinivasan, the BCCI president.
Dravid is set to be the first of India's senior-most cricketers - including Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman - to quit the game after a season of speculation surrounding their future. His decision follows a poor tour of Australia but he enjoyed a prolific run through 2011, scoring five centuries - including four in the Caribbean and England. However, he is set to captain Rajasthan Royals in the upcoming IPL season.
The first public tribute came from Tendulkar, who said no tribute was enough for the "one and only" Dravid. "There was and is only one Rahul Dravid. There can be no other. I will miss Rahul in the dressing room and out in the middle," he said.