Melbourne, Dec 24: Rahul Dravid, who was the highest run-getter in Tests in 2011, spoke about his demoralising slump and triumphant return to form to the Sydney Morning Herald in the lead-up to the much-anticipated Boxing Day Test Match. Dravid became the second highest run-getter behind Sachin Tendulkar, and surpassed Sunil Gavaskar’s 34 Test tons, after being touted as a cricketer way past his prime due to a career-threatening lean phase in 2007-’08. Dravid has said that he drew inspiration from teammate Sachin Tendulkar’s fighting spirit to revive his career.

"I thought I had played my last Test match in Australia. If you have been someone who has contributed a lot for your team over the years, then to get the feeling that the team is carrying you is something that is not easy to get used to ... It was a difficult period for me," Dravid was quoted as saying about the end of India's last tour to Australia.

The No. 3 batsman, who faced much pressure to retire during that trying phase, said he changed his approach by learning from the Little Master’s struggle with a similar period.

"He went through a tough period and he came out of that. That was an inspiration to me. Being in the same dressing room as him, he was having a golden run while I was going through one of my worst times,” he said.

"You think if he can do it – admittedly, he is a much better player, a greater player – but he didn't stress himself about outside stuff, he didn't answer too many questions about retirement, he just got on with the business of scoring runs [...].

"I got too caught up [with] worrying about what is the right time [to retire], what is the wrong time, is this my last tour, is it not my last tour, rather than just playing. It doesn't matter in the end when you finish. I think over the past year, year and a half, I've just played the game, and when the time comes [to retire], it comes," added Dravid.

Approaching his 39th birthday, the senior Indian batsman said, "[Age] does change things, there's no doubt about it. You're a different player than you were as a 24-year-old or a 30-year-old. I think actually it is about recognising that, yes, you do change, as a person, as a player.

"Will you be the same player as you were at 28? Maybe not. Can you still be effective and play a role for your side? Probably yes. A lot of people get hung up on looking at a player in what they think is his prime, and they think he should play like that all the time; it will never happen. You might play the odd innings like that again but even Viv Richards was not the same player when he finished," he elaborated.

"I was reading what [champion swimmer] Ian Thorpe said when he came out of retirement and somebody asked him about his legacy: 'What are you doing to your legacy by coming back and coming eighth in a race?' And he said, 'I can sacrifice my legacy for the love of the sport."

"That makes sense. It's pure; [Thorpe] still enjoys swimming and he enjoys competing. He's not concerned about his legacy, he's concerned about what actually made him play the game in the first place, which is that love of the game, the desire to compete and play. And that will go at some stage. That probably should be the decision," he explained.

Talking about his own batting style, the Bangalore cricketer said, "I'm never going to be a [Virender] Sehwag. That's not me, but when I'm playing well and things are flowing for me, my scoring rate does improve. I feel in a good position, I feel balanced, I am able to get fully forward, get fully back. I create more opportunities to score runs.

"Then when I struggle, I can get into my shell and get really tight. Part of my nature is to fight through things. A lot of guys will hit their way out of trouble but my defence mechanism, my fallback, is to fight through the difficult times," he said.