Rahul Dravid Dropped For Home ODI Series
Veteran Batsmen Not Needed for Australian One Day Series at Home
Oct 17, 2009
Rahul Dravid’s brief return to One Day International cricket has confounded many. For a team aiming to rebuild their ODI outfit with younger talent rather than waiting for the giants of India’s last generation of cricketers to bow out – Tendulkar, Sehwag, Dravid and the now-retired Ganguly – bringing back Dravid two years after his last ODI game seemed like a misguided move at the least. Yet Dravid played an active role in India’s unsuccessful Champions Trophy campaign in South Africa. After positive returns it was thought that he may have been in line for a longer term ODI comeback.
However, when the Indian team for the home ODI series against Australia was named, there was one notable omission – Dravid. After being brought in to strengthen a middle order with obvious short ball issues, and performing admirably on the bowler-friendly tracks of South Africa, he was tossed away once again. Anil Kumble spoke out, saying that a man of Dravid’s ability and stature should not have been dropped "in that way". Two years and one day since Dravid was dropped during the 2007 ODI series against Australia, he once again finds himself unwanted in the young, athletic Indian ODI team.
The catalyst for Dravid’s short-lived comeback was prompted in part by the failure of that young Indian team, and the players who have played in the ODI arena since his sacking in 2007. Rohit Sharma has scored just 4 half-centuries in 38 ODI innings at an average of 24. Dinesk Karthik has unsuccessfully been used as a specialist batsman at times in the One-Day arena. Yusuf Pathan has failed to impress, scoring at an average of 20 and has not justified his place in the team with strong returns with the ball either. This and the Indian batsmen’s apparent weakness to the short ball led the BCCI selectors to consider a tried and true ODI player.
Rahul Dravid's Statistics
In 329 appearances for India up until October 14 2007, Dravid made a respectable 10,464 runs at an average of 39.48. He was a player that always adapted to what the team needed of him. He has batted at every position that a player of his caliber could be expected to bat at – 1st all the way through to 8th. He acted as an anchor around which the more explosive players of the team could play their strokes, knowing there was a more than able veteran holding the fort at the other end. He has even acted as the team’s wicketkeeper when an additional specialist batsmen was needed.
The Shock Comeback
In mid-August Rahul Dravid was named in India’s squad for the Compaq Cup and Champions Trophy in South Africa. Many commentators hinted it as a short-term solution to patch over India’s middle order’s weakness to short pitched bowling. Regardless, Dravid performed soundly, scoring 14, 47, 39, 76 and 4 in his five innings. He even was called upon to open in the final of the Compaq Cup. These returns, contrasted to his exclusion from the team, will certainly cause Dravid to rethink whether he should offer his services to the Indian Limited-Overs team if they should call upon him in the future.
