Sunday, February 17, 2008
Get Dravid back !
Meek capitulation by India at Adelaide. Chasing a non too imposing 203, India crumbled with a mere 153 on the board. With close to 10 overs to spare. Lackluster performance indeed. This was seen in the previous game against Australia too- making a hash of a 150 odd chase.
What was missing was . Someone who can hold one end up and make a dour 50 of 80 balls. Somebody who can cut out the adventure, put his head down and fight. And is there a better someone than Rahul Dravid in the Indian cricketing landscape who fits the bill here ?
Ware the arguments against Dravid's inclusion in the ODI team ? Fielding ? Dravid has been excellent on the field and he's arguably the best contemporary Indian slip fielder. He has taken the highest number of catches by an Indian non-wicketkeeper in test cricket. Lately, there have been numerous instances of him turning on the pace when required, so the argument of him being a slow scorer has also been rendered null and void.
Look at his ODI record - stellar. Excess of 10000 runs at a wonderful average of 39.49, a very reasonable strike rate of 72. Third highest ODI run getter in Indian cricket. We have a winner here !
And surprisingly, he was dumped very quitely- no big hue and cry. A player of his class..left in the lurch in such a manner...very sad indeed. It would be great for the team and for David the person if he's recalled.
However, one argument I accede to - the team wants to start afresh. Dravid might automatically imply Ganguly, and Ganguly is miserable on he field. But whatever man, I have a midsem tomorrow, I can't beat this argument to death like I have done with the others. I stick to my guns, get Dravid back !
What was missing was . Someone who can hold one end up and make a dour 50 of 80 balls. Somebody who can cut out the adventure, put his head down and fight. And is there a better someone than Rahul Dravid in the Indian cricketing landscape who fits the bill here ?
Ware the arguments against Dravid's inclusion in the ODI team ? Fielding ? Dravid has been excellent on the field and he's arguably the best contemporary Indian slip fielder. He has taken the highest number of catches by an Indian non-wicketkeeper in test cricket. Lately, there have been numerous instances of him turning on the pace when required, so the argument of him being a slow scorer has also been rendered null and void.
Look at his ODI record - stellar. Excess of 10000 runs at a wonderful average of 39.49, a very reasonable strike rate of 72. Third highest ODI run getter in Indian cricket. We have a winner here !
And surprisingly, he was dumped very quitely- no big hue and cry. A player of his class..left in the lurch in such a manner...very sad indeed. It would be great for the team and for David the person if he's recalled.
However, one argument I accede to - the team wants to start afresh. Dravid might automatically imply Ganguly, and Ganguly is miserable on he field. But whatever man, I have a midsem tomorrow, I can't beat this argument to death like I have done with the others. I stick to my guns, get Dravid back !
Labels: Esprit de sports
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