Rahul Dravid's Test career finished with him being labelled as one of the best batsmen to bat at number three in the format but you would be surprised to know that Dravid didn't make his debut while playing at 3, either in Test cricket or in first-class cricket. In his first-class debut, he batted at number 7 while in his Test debut, he came in to bat at number 5.
No batter has played more number of matches at number 3 than Rahul Dravid in Test cricket. The Indian stalwart was the second highest run-getter at the very place, just behind Kumar Sangakkara. Dravid stands at number 3 in terms of most Test centuries at this batting position, only behind Kumar Sangakkara & Ricky Ponting.
But all this would not have been possible if Sachin Tendulkar, the Indian Test captain at the helm when Dravid made his debut, had not executed the idea of playing Rahul at 3 and Ganguly at 5. Both these batsmen were batting in vice-versa positions till then. Tendulkar's thought that a calmer and more technical solid Rahul Dravid suits more at 3, and an aggressive Ganguly fits well at 5, went on to serve Indian cricket big time.
Rahul Dravid was a bigger asset for India than these mere numbers can ever show. He was much for the Indian Test team than just an individual batsman. For Indian batting, which has been struggling outside home especially in SENA countries, Dravid was the complete top order (1-3), as suggested by the statistics. For ever struggling Indian team in these conditions, things could have been more gloomy if Dravid had not sustained the front with such a good effect. Let's get into the details with following explanations:
Performance of Indian top order in home conditions
It is no secret that Indian batsmen didn't used to face any sort of trouble in home conditions. All the batsmen, especially the top order have plundered runs at will against all kinds of opposition. Going through the statistics of Indian top order in home conditions when Dravid was in the team, it comes forth that they averaged 47.30 in 70 Tests. Although Dravid was the main contributor, all other batsmen, whenever they got chances, performed as per expectations.
Of all 16746 runs scored in the above mentioned criteria, Rahul scored 4937 runs, with Sehwag being the second best with 3778 runs. Out of 40 centuries scored, Dravid scored 14. But the scene was completely different when India played in South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia. Let's see:
Performance of Indian top order in South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia
Contrary to the first scenario, the Indian top order looked to fall flat here. When Rahul was part of the team in the mentioned countries, Indian top order could only manage to score at 35.19, fairly less than it was in the home conditions. If this average still looks just fine, credit for it shall go to none other than Rahul Dravid, who scored more than 40% out of the total scored by the Indian top three in these countries.
Precisely, Indian top order scored 8975 runs in 46 Tests of which 3644 runs were scored by Dravid. Out of 20 Test centuries in total, Dravid scored 10. If we eliminate Rahul's performance from these statistics, the average of Indian top order in SENA countries reduces to a meagre 29.13.
Performance of Indian top order in SENA post Dravid's retirement
What we see in the conclusion of the previous point, seems to be true post Rahul's retirement. Since the retirement of Dravid, the Indian top three have averaged 31.01 in 39 matches with 13 centuries.
Cheteshwar Pujara, who was touted as the replacement of Rahul Dravid, has led the front, but hardly in the manner of Dravid. Pujara has scored 2369 runs in 37 games at 35.35, with just 5 hundreds.
Influence of Rahul Dravid in India's performance in SENA countries
The Indian team managed to win 7 Tests in the mentioned countries when Dravid was part of the playing eleven. And guess what? Rahul was the quintessential Indian batsmen in these matches, even ahead of the great Sachin Tendulkar.
Here, Rahul Dravid scored 731 runs at 73.10, in comparison of Sachin's 644 at 53.44. Rahul scored 2 centuries and 3 half centuries, while Sachin scored 2 centuries and as many half centuries. If India was to win a Test in these nations, Dravid had to be the head contributor. It was the influence of the great man on the Indian Test team in his playing days.
A pure team man:
Rahul Dravid was someone who not only scored big runs for himself, but he let others do so as well. He used to form big partnerships with the other batsmen, and sustain one end with perfection, which allowed his partners to play freely. Statistically, Rahul is the only batsmen in Test cricket history to be involved in more than 10 partnerships of 100 or above, with four different batsmen.
He was involved in 20 century partnerships with Tendulkar. Sehwag was his partner for the same cause for 12 times, while Ganguly and Laxman got together with Dravid 10 times each to form a century partnership.
Rahul was someone around whom, the whole team used to score runs. You can learn this from the statistics. When Dravid was on the crease, India scored a total of 32039 runs. Out of these, Dravid scored 13288 runs, which was 41.47% of the total runs. The likes of Sachin and Ponting's percentage in this criteria is close to 50. It suggests that Dravid's presence was comfortable for others to get their runs. His presence on the crease could ensure that India is getting enough runs on the board.
Conclusion:
There should not be any doubt about how the Indian Test team would have performed in overseas countries, had Rahul Dravid not existed to sustain the main front. The predicament of the Indian top order post Dravid's retirement, further validates what Dravid has given to Indian cricket.
Also, Dravid's contribution as the rear guard in the Indian Test team should be given more value than it is given. If Sachin, Sehwag, Ganguly etc. made names as the aggressive batsmen in Test cricket, then some due of it should be given to Rahul, who allowed them to do so by protecting one end on countless number of occasions.
He might be criticized for not scoring enough centuries in Australia and South Africa, but the ways to greatness can be many, and Dravid achieved that in a different way than others.