Rahul Dravid

Calcutta: “You could have heard a pin drop... It was such a compelling presentation,” is how Cricket Australia (CA) general manager Peter Young saluted Rahul Dravid for his Bradman Oration, in Canberra, on Wednesday night.

The former India captain became the first non-Australian cricketer to deliver the Oration, which has been an annual event on the CA’s calendar for some years now.

Speaking to The Telegraph on Thursday morning, Young added: “We actually had to squeeze in more tables at the National War Memorial to accommodate 250 guests instead of 220, as had been planned... The demand was so huge and, as it turned out, Dravid held the audience’s attention throughout.”

The Bradman family was represented by Sir Don’s son John and the latter’s own sons, Tom and Nicholas. They joined in the prolonged standing ovation when Dravid completed his 6,403 words Oration.

But, then, the 38-year-old Dravid is comfortable playing long innings.

Also present were Dravid’s teammates, Sujatha Singh (India’s high commissioner to Australia), Tim Mathieson (Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s “partner”) and 94-year-old Reg Ellis.

A left-arm spinner in his younger days, Ellis played for the Australian Military XI, both at home and overseas — including in India, after World War II.

According to Young, Sachin Tendulkar “suggested” that Ellis bowl at the India nets! Ellis himself went up to Virender Sehwag and complimented him for authoring the “finest innings” he’d ever seen.

Ellis was referring to Sehwag’s record-blasting 219 in the recent Indore ODI against the West Indies.

The Oration was a black tie-dinner jacket/team suit event.

Dravid, one learns, kept making “minor changes” to the Oration till as late as Wednesday afternoon. On Monday morning, he’d visited the CA’s HQ, in Melbourne, to “work on the details.”

“Very professional,” is how CA public affairs manager Philip Pope described Dravid’s approach. He added: “Dravid took it very seriously, from the time I conveyed the invitation, on behalf of CA, two months ago.”

That the classy Dravid had been so honoured was first reported, on November 13, in these columns.