Rahul Dravid turns 48: Cricket Fraternity Wishes 'The Wall'

Rahul Dravid turned 48 on Monday and social media was flooded with birthday wishes for the former India captain, both from fans and former cricketers.

Dravid, widely regarded as a Test specialist, had a fantastic career in both ODIs and Tests as he finished his career with over 10,000 runs each in both formats. He played 164 Tests, 344 ODIs and 1 T20I in which he scored 13288, 10889 and 31 runs respectively.

Dravid, regarded as one of the finest batsmen ever to grace the game, holds the record for facing the maximum number of balls by a batsman in Test cricket. He faced a total of 31,258 deliveries, an average of 190.6 balls per Test match across his career.

VVS Laxman, who shared some memorable partnerships with 'The Wall', took to Twitter to send his "warm wishes to a special friend".

The International Cricket Council (ICC) put out some interesting stats about Dravid and tweeted: "More than 10,000 runs in Tests and ODIs, 194 fifty-plus scores, most Test catches by a non-wicketkeeper, most balls faced in Test cricket, only player to be involved in two 300-plus ODI partnerships. Happy birthday to the incredible Rahul Dravid."

"Wishing Rahul Dravid - former India captain & one of the finest batsmen to have ever graced the game - a very happy birthday," tweeted BCCI.

Dravid was named the ICC Cricketer of the Year in 2004.

The former India captain, who currently heads the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, was bestowed with the Arjuna award in 1998, while he received the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan in 2004 and 2013 respectively.