Dravid spent 735 hrs 52 mins at crease, most for any batsman
Former Indian batsman Rahul Dravid, who debuted on June 22, 1996, spent 44,152 minutes (735 hours 52 minutes) at the crease in Test cricket, the most for any batsman. Dravid faced 31,258 balls in his 16-year-long Test career, setting the record for most balls faced by a batsman. Dravid retired from Test cricket in 2012, amassing 13,288 runs.
Rahul Dravid, one of the greatest Test batsmen in cricket's rich history, came out to bat for the first time in international cricket on June 22, 1996. It was a big occasion for Dravid, who made his Test debut against England at Lord's -- the Mecca of Cricket -- alongside Sourav Ganguly.Dravid started his debut innings at No.7 and proved his credentials with a typically gritty Test knock of 95 off 267 balls. He was also involved in a 94-run stand for the sixth wicket with centurion Ganguly (131) as the match ended in a draw. That partnership marked the start of a golden era for Indian cricket as Dravid, Ganguly, VVS Laxman along with Sachin Tendulkar took Indian cricket to new highs. (Rahul Dravid urges decisive call on MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh's role in team)Dravid played for 16 years for India before retiring in 2012 after India's dismal tour of Australia. He holds the record for facing most number of balls, 31,258 -- 1821 more balls than Sachin Tendulkar had faced in his 24-year career -- and spent 44152 minutes at the crease, most by any batsman in the history.Dravid aggregated 13288 runs from 164 Tests the help of 36 hundreds at 52.31. In ODIs, Dravid played 344 matches scoring 10889 with 12 hundreds and 83 half-centuries. (Rahul Dravid set to extend his tenure as India A, Under-19 coach)Dravid was famously known as 'The Wall'. The exceptional batting talent not just scored runs in India but all over the world.In one of the most memorable knocks by Dravid in 2001, the Karnataka batsman joined forces with VVS Laxman to guide India to one of best Test victories in Indian cricket's history. Dravid had a below par Test series to his standards until that innings. Following on, India were struggling to save the match tottering at 232/4 when Dravid joined an in-form Laxman at the crease. The duo put on a mammoth 376-run stand as India declared their second innings at a massive 657 for seven. Laxman had scored 281 while Dravid hit 180.Chasing 394 for a win, Australia were off to a solid opening stand before Harbhajan Singh ripped apart Australian batting line-up with 6/73 to give India a historic win to level the three-match series 1-1.Some of the interesting stats from the great man's Test career:# Dravid was involved in most number of Test victories -- 15 -- overseas with an astonishing batting average of 65.70.# He was the highest run-getter batting at No.3. He scored 10,524 from 219 innings at 52.88 with the help of 28 hundreds and 50 fifties.# He was involved in a record 738 partnerships in Test career.# Dravid was also part of 88 century-plus partnerships involving Sachin Tendulkar (20), VVS Laxman (12), Virender Sehwag (10) and Sourav Ganguly Ganguly(10)