PTI
Margao, Feb 15: Skipper Rahul Dravid on Wednesday played down his achievement of passing the 10,000 mark in one-day cricket, saying having developed into a versatile batsman in the shorter version of the game gave him more satisfaction than the milestone.
"Ten thousand runs is merely a number. I think one of the things that has given me satisfaction in my one-day career is that I have batted in different positions from one to seven and I have kept wickets," Dravid said, after making 66 in India's five-wicket win against Sri Lanka in the third ODI.
"Ten thousand is nice, but if you play 300-odd games, you will get there."
Dravid crossed the landmark when he reached 22 en route to his half-century in 309th ODI.
It was not long ago that Dravid was criticised for his slow batting in one-day cricket.
He was partially blamed for India's loss to New Zealand in the ICC Knock-out Championship final in Kenya in 2000 when his defensive batting brought down the run-rate when the team batted first.
Now, he has become only the third Indian and sixth ever to enter the elite club.
Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, with 14783 and 10412 runs from 381 and 285 ties, are the other two Indians who have crossed the milestone.
Other members of the 10,000 club are: Inzamam-ul Haq, Pakistan, 11665 runs in 374 ODIs; Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka, 11516, 378; and Brian Lara, WI, 10136, 290.