Debut World Cup success

Main article: 1999 Cricket World Cup

Dravid made his World Cup debut against South Africa at Hove striking a half
century, but scored just 13 in the next game against Zimbabwe.[119] India lost
both the games.[120] India needed to win the remaining three games to have
any chance of qualifying for the Super Six stage. Dravid hit his maiden World Cup
hundred against Kenya at Bristol, putting up a record unbeaten partnership of
237 runs with Sachin Tendulkar.[121] India won the match by 94 runs. Mongia
got injured during keeping forcing Dravid to take up his duties during the match.
[122] As Mongia could not recover by the next match, Dravid played his first ODI
as a designated keeper against Sri Lanka at Taunton.[123] Coming in at no. 3,
Dravid scored 145 runs from 129 balls with 17 fours and a six, becoming only the
second batsman to hit back-to-back hundreds in World Cup history.[123] He
featured in a record 318 runs partnership with Sourav Ganguly the first ever
three hundred run partnership in ODI history.[124] India won the match by 157
runs.[125] Dravid struck another fifty against England in their last group match.
[119] India won the match to end up as the group runner-up and advanced into
the Super Six stage.[126] Dravid scored 2, 61 & 29 in the three Super Six
matches against Australia, Pakistan & New Zealand respectively.[119] India won
against Pakistan but lost the other two games to end up at the bottom of the
points table.[120][126] Dravid emerged as the top scorer of the tournament with
461 runs from 8 games at an average of 65.85 and a strike rate of 85.52.[127]
Though India failed to qualify for the semi-finals,[120][126] Dravid's success at
the World Cup established him as the quintessential no. 3 batsman of Indian
team in both formats of the game.

Dravid's post-World Cup campaign started on a poor note with just 40 runs
coming in 4 games of Aiwa Cup in August 1999. He finally came into his own in
the ensuing Singapore Challenge, where he top scored for India, including a
hundred in the Finals. He also top scored for India in the DMC Cup including a
fifty in the third game. While India lost Singapore Challenge Finals to West Indies,
they took their revenge by beating them in the DMC Cup 21. By now, Dravid
had started to keep wickets on an infrequent basis with India fielding him as a
wicket-keeper in 4 out of last 10 ODIs. Dravid failed to make a mark in the LG
Cup where he scored 81 runs in 4 games.

Dravid started off his post-World Cup Test cricket season on a positive note with a
hundred against New Zealand in the First of a 3-match home series at Mohali in
October 1999. Before this innings, Dravid had five test hundreds to his name
from 29 tests, all of which came in away tests, this being his first test hundred on
Indian soil. Except for this innings, he struggled throughout the rest of the season
with just 281 runs in the next 7 tests at a poor average of 20.07 that included a
03 whitewash for India in Australia and a 02 whitewash against South Africa in
a home series. He managed to cross 40 run mark just once in this 7 test span.

Meanwhile, Dravid continued his good run in ODI cricket. He scored 260 runs at
an average of 60.00 in the 32 series win against New Zealand in November
1999. In the second game at Hyderabad, he scored 153 runs- his career best
innings, which included 15 fours and two sixes. He featured in a 331 run
partnership with Tendulkar- highest partnership in ODI cricket history. In 1999,
Dravid scored 1761 runs in 43 ODIs at an average of 46.34 and a strike rate of
75.16 including 6 hundreds and 8 fifties. This was to be the best year of Dravid's
ODI career.

Dravid followed up his previous year's ODI success with moderate success in the
19992000 Carlton & United Series and the bilateral series against South Africa
and a below par performance in a tri-nation series in Sharjah. Dravid took two
wickets in a single over against South Africa in the First ODI of the bilateral series
at Kochi. Gary Kirsten became Dravid's first victim in ODI cricket. His bowling
figures of 2/43 in 9 overs remained his career best ODI bowling figures. It was
also the best bowling figure by any bowler for that particular match.

He was appointed the vice-captain during 2003 World Cup, in which India
reached the finals, playing as a wicket-keeper batsman to accommodate an
additional batsman, a strategy that worked out well. Dravid was appointed the
captain for the Indian team for 2007 World Cup, where India had an unsuccessful
campaign.

He then scored 200 not out his first double century against Zimbabwe in
Delhi, and followed with a second innings of 70 not out to help India win the
match. It was the first time in 12 months that he had passed 50 runs. He scored
162 runs in the next Test, getting him 432 runs in the series, with an average of
432 runs.[citation needed