Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Why Back to the Old Wall ?

Now before The Rahul Dravid fans cry foul on my article I would like to specify that I am a big Dravid fan . His style technique & concentration level has amazed me over the years . I just loved watching each & every innings of his . He is easily India ‘s most unselfish cricketers who is ready to keep wickets when asked & even leave the captaincy when he feels that it is not helping Team India . I was also extremely upset when he was dumped from the ODI team for no rhymes & reason
Having said this , once the step of dropping one of India’s cricketing Titans was taken , The chapter should have ended there & then . The last selection Committee led by Dilip Vensarkar had taken steps cooperating Skipper Dhoni’s vision of looking forward & putting their trust on youngsters who would have later accompanied the team during 2011 World Cup . This steps by the Vensarkar Selection Committee proved big results with the youth brigade winning almost 90% of the ODIs & The more experienced Test team also winning more matches . Now as a result of those tough decisions India is at present closer to be the No. 1 in both forms of the game .
The dirty work was done by the last Selectors Committee all the present selection committee Headed By Mr Srikkanth had to do was continue with that trend . But they suddenly decided to take an about turn by Choosing Rahul Dravid back into the ODI squad & clearly pulling off a big surprise . This decision to go back to a more aged side for the Champions Trophy was taken as a result of just one failure in the T20 , an entirely different format which had taken place after 2 months of unnecessary IPL cricket . I am not pretty sure that The Coach Gary Kirsten & Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni supported this decision having been the chief architects in bringing young legs into India’s ODI team , a move which has paid rich dividends as the team has virtually beaten everyone in the ODIs, even winning on foreign shores . This decision could also be a result of growing unsaid tensions between The Selectors & Dhoni . Maybe Chika & Company wanted to teach him a lesson & they don’t mind The team losing its hold on One day Cricket to achieve that results . The team is now running pretty close to getting the No 1 positions as it meets South Africa in Both the tri series as well as Champions Trophy & these 2 tournaments could very well decide whether India will get that Coveted position or not .
Two of the many possible reasons for Dravid’s selection circulating in the media are Shewag’s absence as well as Dravid’s performance in IPL . This argument is interesting & unvalid because while Shewag on one hand is a swashbuckling talent , a destroyer of Bowlers . Dravid on the other hand is an acumalator who plays the sheet anchor role in the team . A role that is played very efficiently by Dhoni in the present team . So how does Dravid fit when he cannot play the role that Shewag plays is slightly confusing . The fact that Sachin will surely open the innings filling in for Shewag makes that position covered . Next is Dravid’s IPL performance . So Rahul Dravid had a pretty similar IPL 2 like his Royal Challengers teammate Virat Kholi who had a great Emerging Trophy which took pace in Australia .He is quite capable of opening the innings as well as playing in the middle order . Plus he is a good fielder .. Why has he been ignored is still a glaring question mark
Infact Question are what every selection the present Committee has made has resulted into . Why some players get picked & why dropped is like a riddle that all Indian Cricket fans are trying to solve . This shows that not all cricketers turned T.V. commentators can prove to be good selectors , a the support they have given to Dhoni to build a team has been appalling . While die hard Dravid fan s must be rejoicing as we are country who are Idol worshippers rather than team worshippers . It is high time that the concept of team India is being pressed upon rather than individuals
Indian cricket was on the brink of becoming one of the most powerful teams when their march has been stopped by their own men . I hope such moves do no harm to the results n the coming tournaments . Dravid as a selfless would give his all & is too good a player to fail all the times & it is not a question of him being picked . It is a question of why now when there have been positive results by the youth brigade .India too has quite a few individual talents who would show their brilliance . Where India will miss the young legs is in the agility , Running between the wickets & fielding department . This is the part of the game that differentiates the good teams to the great teams . India’s next 2 competitors South Africa & Sri Lanka have these 3 aspects . Can India make the difference only on the Individuals . As a cricket fan , I hope they do it as I want the team to win with or without the old guns .

PRONEET s Labels