Mumbai, Mar 9: For the better part of 16 years, Rahul Dravid has defined resistance in Test cricket. Standing firm for India at the No. 3 spot despite batting collapses, trying conditions and hostile bowling attacks, The Wall has withstood pressure, and often criticism, to emerge as the second-highest run-getter of all time. Unsurprisingly, he also holds the world record for facing more deliveries than any other Test batsman. As Indian cricket’s North Star fades from view, we bring you some of the brightest memories from his Test career.

148 v South Africa – 3rd Test, Johannesburg, January 16-20, 1997

India enter the final Test of the series facing the prospect of a series sweep. After Sachin Tendulkar wins the toss and opts to bat first, Dravid finds himself making his way out to the middle of the New Wanderers Stadium with the scoreboard reading 25 for one. Playing against a bowling attack that boasts the likes of Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Brian McMillan and Lance Klusener, Dravid digs in for over nine hours (541 minutes, to be precise) and faces 362 deliveries en route to a masterful 148. It is an innings that propels India past the 400-run mark for the first time in the series and helps them draw the Test, thus avoiding the ignominy of a whitewash. It is also the innings that cements Dravid’s batting position at No. 3 in the Indian lineup.

180 v Australia – 2nd Test, Kolkata, March 11-15, 2001

Pushed down to No. 6 after an unusually poor run of form in the three previous innings of the series, Dravid comes out to bat at the Eden Gardens with India still needing 42 runs to avoid an innings defeat. With VVS Laxman (281) playing the innings of a lifetime at the other end, Dravid provides the perfect foil with an innings of 180 that come of 353 balls. Thanks to the 376-run stand between the two batsmen, India come back from behind to record a 171-run win. The partnership proves to be the turning point of the series as the hosts trumps the visitors 2-1.

148 v England – 3rd Test, Leeds, August 22-26, 2002

Trailing 0-1 in the four-match series, Dravid walks out at No. 3 on the first morning of the Leeds Test within the first seven overs of the Indian innings. In conditions that are ideal for swing bowling, Dravid has his mettle tested to the hilt by Messrs. Matthew Hoggard, Andy Caddick, Alex Tudor and Andrew Flintoff. But Dravid stands firm, denying the England pacers for 429 minutes in an innings that lasts 307 deliveries. By the time Ashley Giles has him stumped, Dravid has battled his way to a score of 148 which lays the foundation for a mammoth Indian score of 628 and a subsequent win that levels the series 1-1.

233 and 72*v Australia – 2nd Test, Adelaide, December 12-16, 2003

After the hosts amass 556 runs in the first innings, Dravid scores his first, and only, double-ton (233) against the Aussies while batting for close to 10 hours. His 303-run stand with VVS Laxman, after India find themselves wobbling at 85 for four, revives the innings and takes the visitors to within 33 runs of Australia’s first-innings score. Then, with Ajit Agarkar producing career-best figures of six for 41 to limit the hosts to 196 in their second innings, Dravid anchors a tense run chase with an unbeaten 72 that gives India their first victory on Australian soil in 23 years.

270 v Pakistan – 3rd Test, Rawalpindi, April 13-16, 2004

Having scored a cumulative 39 runs in the Multan and Lahore Tests, and the series (1-1) very much up for grabs, Dravid produces his best Test innings yet. After Pakistan are bowled out for 224, Dravid comes in to bat in the all too familiar situation of India having lost one of its openers without a run being scored. But freed from the burden of captaincy (Sourav Ganguly was injured for the first two Tests), Dravid shows the extent of his concentration as he bats for a staggering 740 minutes (close to seven sessions). India reach 600 riding on the back of that marathon innings and bowl Pakistan out for 245 to record their first ever Test series win in Pakistan.

81 & 68 v West Indies – 4th Test, Sabina Park, June 30 – July 2, 2006

With the three previous matches in the series having borne no result, Dravid produces two innings of dogged resistance on a devil of a pitch at Sabina Park in another demonstration of his nickname, The Wall. Where only two other batsmen in the Test go past the half-century mark, Dravid hits two half-centuries as India successfully defend a fourth-innings target of 269. Those twin innings of deft batting are enough for India to seal their first victory in the Caribbean in over 35 years.

146* v England – 4th Test, Kennington Oval, August 18-22, 2011

As India stumble their way through injuries, Dravid finds himself opening the innings for the fourth time in the series. He is already in prodigious form, having struck an unbeaten 103 and 117 in the defeats at Lord’s and Nottingham respectively. However, with the ignominy of a series whitewash looming large, the situation demands that Dravid produce one last heroic stand regardless. The Indian, accordingly, puts his head down and grafts his way through to an unbeaten 146 as India collapse to a score of 300. In doing so, Dravid becomes only the third Indian to carry his bat through an innings. Yet, despite his best efforts, India crash to an innings and eight run defeat and surrender the series 4-0.