Rahul Dravid

[Furball]

Think he's finished TBH especially with all the talented young batsman coming through it will be hard to argue why he should be in ahead of someone like Badrinath or even maybe Sharma, Raina or Singh. Hope he retires rather than getting dropped by the selectors because a player of his greatness deserves to go out on his own terms.

But if the player himself can't see that it's time to go, then he gets everything he deserves by being dropped.

 

[honestbharani]

He needs a break from international cricket for his own good.


Said it earlier in another thread (that has now been merged, btw.. ).. He seems to be putting himself under lot of stress. Let him go back to Ranji, enjoy time with his family away from the pressure, let him score some runs, get some confidence back, dominate Ranji attacks (hopefully) and then come back a more confident man at #3 for India..


As SJS said, being dropped is not a permanent thing. It simply means you are not among the best 6 or 7 batsmen in the country at THAT point.... IT can change for the next series itself..

 

[Anil]

he doesn't warrant a place in the team on current form, if he wants to continue his career, he needs to go back to the grind of domestic cricket, get some runs under his belt and some confidence back and then come back into consideration...i have a feeling it is more a question of self-belief than anything else, he has proved his class all over the cricketing world...

 

[R_D]

Don't think he should be selected for the England series but knowing this is indian cricket so you can be quite confident he'll play that series.. might be his last chance i think.
Anyway.. hope Dravid scores some runs in Ranji to get his confidence up.

Barring the last 2 innings.. he looked like he was in decent touch.... was batting ok until getting out somehow... i thought it was only a matter of time before he scored big again. But looks like its not happening for him.... remember Sachin went through a similar phase where he was looking good but just kept getting out. Would be sad to see Dravid go as well.

 

[krkode]

Don't think he should be selected for the England series but knowing this is indian cricket so you can be quite confident he'll play that series.. might be his last chance i think.
Anyway.. hope Dravid scores some runs in Ranji to get his confidence up.

Barring the last 2 innings.. he looked like he was in decent touch.... was batting ok until getting out somehow... i thought it was only a matter of time before he scored big again. But looks like its not happening for him.... remember Sachin went through a similar phase where he was looking good but just kept getting out. Would be sad to see Dravid go as well.

I imagine he will announce his retirement just before the England series. Then the selectors will hand him one more series like they did for Ganguly. And then he'll sign off with a double hundred.

Wouldn't expect anything less of Dravid. Huzzah!

 

[morgieb]

I think it is time to go for him. He's quite cleary past it, and I can't see him reversing it.

 

[Burgey]

Goneski.

Sad, but true.

 

[adharcric]

Given Badrinath's untimely dip in form, I'm not too comfortable with two new batsman in the lineup against England. Chopra or Vijay opening with Gambhir at one-down may be a better option and I can see Rohit Sharma cracking another Ranji ton and taking the spot ahead of Badrinath. Dravid really needs a break but hopefully a good knock or two in domestic cricket between now and the England tour does the trick for him. Really sad to see someone like Dravid struggle at this stage of his career.

 

[SJS]

I mean the selectors should not pick him anymore.


He can, and should. I said England is a time to pick a replacement barring a big reversal of form in the Ranji trophy.

Sorry I misundrstood. I am writing an article on this big call to force players out of the game when all that should be done is dro them when they are out form.

 

[jeevan]

He's two short of the all-time high catches record, and Ponting,Kallis are a good 40-50 catches behind.

But his catching form in this last match is actually yet another reminder of what once was.

 

[SJS]

He's two short of the all-time high catches record, and Ponting,Kallis are a good 40-50 catches behind.

But his catching form in this last match is actually yet another reminder of what once was.

Its less a reminder of what he was and more of what selectors can do to a player (even a near great one) by keeping on playing him when he is in poor form and low on confidence. Great damage is done to Dravid and he is stupid not to have opted out even after the tour to Australia for a couple of months.

 

[neutralguy]

Sorry I misundrstood. I am writing an article on this big call to force players out of the game when all that should be done is dro them when they are out form.

Exactly. Point well taken. Vengsarkar did this with Sehwag for an year and look at how he is doing now. Similarly More dropped ganguly and see the effect after he came back.
I think Dravid should simply be dropped.Let him go to domestic cricket, make runs and if he shows the good form bring him sometimes after the pakistan or new zealand series. Till then , he has to iron out his flaws in domestic cricket. I hope that Dravid will make a great comeback after that,contribute and sign off in style.

 

[Precambrian]

Exactly. Point well taken. Vengsarkar did this with Sehwag for an year and look at how he is doing now. Similarly More dropped ganguly and see the effect after he came back.
I think Dravid should simply be dropped.Let him go to domestic cricket, make runs and if he shows the good form bring him sometimes after the pakistan or new zealand series. Till then , he has to iron out his flaws in domestic cricket. I hope that Dravid will make a great comeback after that,contribute and sign off in style.

Er. but at 37 is he game for a comeback?

 

[neutralguy]

Why not, as long as he gets his form back. Even tendulkar is going to be 37 someday, isn't it.

 

[Precambrian]

Why not, as long as he gets his form back. Even tendulkar is going to be 37 someday, isn't it.

He is, though he is nowhere near Dravid in terms of form dip.

 

[jeevan]

Why not, as long as he gets his form back. Even tendulkar is going to be 37 someday, isn't it.

That will be 3 months after Dravid is 37. Which itself is a year and few months away. They're the same age.

I think the issue is that it is as hard to get back on to the India team as it is (for a superstar) to be dropped from it. Hurts us both ways, but is the system.

Sehwag is very lucky to have gotten back. If Jaffer had not imploded in Australia, and if Chopra (who had done everything in domestic cricket that there was to do) had not been overlooked, we wouldnt have had a Sehwag MkII.

I certainly dont want to hope that Dravid's replacement (unless it is Yuvraj) messes up as badly.

 

[honestbharani]

Er. but at 37 is he game for a comeback?

he is 35, FFS...

 

[Precambrian]

The reemergence of this thread after every tour or rather every match is disturbing but inevitable

Dravid's performance in the last two years (Excl Ban tests)

24 tests - 27 average. Wonder what is the wonder we are all waiting for.

 

[Richard]

The thing that's so particularly disappointing about it all is that Dravid's down patch started the very next game after the best match of his career. And at the age of just 33.

If he was just starting on the downward slope now that'd make more sense, but it's a shame Dravid's lack of runs was as substantial as it was in 2006/07, 2007 and 2007/08.

 

[Precambrian]

The thing that's so particularly disappointing about it all is that Dravid's down patch started the very next game after the best match of his career. And at the age of just 33.

If he was just starting on the downward slope now that'd make more sense, but it's a shame Dravid's form was as poor as it was in 2006/07, 2007 and 2007/08.

He is past it, because out of form doesnt last two years, and you don't average in the mid 20s consistently if out of form.