The press conference began on schedule and, within three-quarters of an hour, Dravid left the room and international cricket as he had walked in. Swift, smooth, business-like, and, on Friday, to the sound-and-light burst of camera flashbulbs. The significance of Friday's announcement will be understood only six months down the line, when India play Test cricket for the first time in 16 years without the most reliable one-drop in their history.
The decision to retire was not sudden, he said; the period of contemplation had lasted over a year as he assessed his game series after series. The disappointment of the Australia tour had not given him any 'eureka' moment around his decision to leave the game. "I didn't take the decision based on one series… these decisions are based on a lot of other things, it's the culmination of a lot of things. I don't think it's based on what happened in the last series. For each one it comes differently, for me it's come with a bit of contemplation, a bit of thought, with friends and family."
On his return from Australia, Dravid spent a month, taking the "emotion" of the result in order to "look at things dispassionately... and so I came to this decision and when I came to it, I was very clear in my mind." The decision had been easy as it was difficult, that he had known "deep down" that it was time for the "next generation" to take over.
It was tough to leave "the life I have lived for 16 years and, before that, five years of first class cricket. It is all I have known all my grown life … it wasn't a difficult decision for me because I just knew in my heart that the time was right, and I was very happy and comfortable in what I had achieved and what I had done. You just know deep down that it is time to move on and let the next generation take over… "
Dravid entered the function room straight into a scrum of photographers, looking almost apologetic at having caused such a fuss. He was dressed in his India blazer and seated on the podium next to BCCI president N Srinivasan and his former team-mate, captain and now KSCA president, Anil Kumble. The walls around him were lined with portraits of Karnataka's Test players, in the front row of the audience were members of his family, team-mates and the cricket community of the city.
He began by reading out his statement, his voice steady as he listed the people who'd played a part in every stage of his career - coaches, selectors, trainers, physios, officials, team-mates, family, even the media. He ended with the Indian cricket fan. "The game is lucky to have you and I have been lucky to play before you… My approach to cricket has been reasonably simple: it was about giving everything to the team, it was about playing with dignity and it was about upholding the spirit of the game. I hope I have done some of that. I have failed at times, but I have never stopped trying. It is why I leave with sadness but also with pride."
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