They came, we saw, they conquered.

For all of us it was indeed like a midsummer night's dream when Ganguly and Dravid made the hallowed piece of turf at Lords their own, that June afternoon in 1996. In what may be branded an irony, while Ganguly's innings is widely remembered for his silken drives through the off side and the occassional pull, Dravid's will forver be etched in our mindsby the manner of his dismissal. On 95,he got A wafer thin edge of Lewis' bowling which was snapped up by Jack Russell and the umpire had enough doubts in his mind to have possibly given it not out. Dravid chose to walk. These would set the trend for the rest of their careers. Ganguly, ever majestic and royal, the maverick professor and Dravid the gentleman champion and a brilliant student of the game.

For a long time, the Professor would charge his wards up with inspirational words and when needed, inspirational deeds. He had come through a nasty system and he would not let his proteges suffer through the same. Time and again, he would come to the defence of one of the struggling junior members and support them through tough phase. We would be always thankful to him for showing us that India could win consistently and in varying conditions. Critics might say he was lucky to have all his players firing, but then credit should be given to him for getting the best out of them. And one of those who contributed in a great measure was Dravid himself.

In the 90s, Harsha Bhogle would refer to Sachin as India's 10/2 man. Dravid was the 2/1 man. Often coming in with an early wicket falling and the opposition fast bowler's tails up, he would hold them at bay and then settle down to score big. He's been criticized for batting too slow, but then he knew the value of staying at the wicket. He never once tried to match his more talented peers in the strokeplay, but instead complemented them like no one else ever did. The record number of century partnerships he was involved in stands testimony to that.

Their partnership as the captain and vice captain of the team saw the best stretch of results for the Indian team. We were transformed from a team of gentlemanly losers to pleasant champions. 

As much as we would want them to play as long as possible, one of them has already chosen to call it time and the other's timing has deserted him for a while now. Thus a little romantic inside me wants them to retire together, much as they came on to the scene together. Indians would give anything to see them repeat that magical performance one last time.