Cricket's Flavor of the Season, Rahul Dravid

What with the sudden burst of online activity surrounding our good old Wall, I also got lured into this maze of writing about him. His sterling performances in the first 2 Tests aside, it is his comeback to the ODI side and his subsequent announcement that he is going to retire from limited overs cricket, that has really put the spotlight on him.

India’s decision to recall him speaks badly about the depth in the side particularly in handling good quality pace, swing and bounce. It is also a knock on the heads for all the youngsters in the side. It is an indirect indication by the selectors that these guys need to hone their techniques.

One last chance to see the Dravid brand of ODI cricket

Dravid must be smiling silently. He was dumped from the ODI side in late 2009 and now when the conditions are tough and the bowling opposition is of the highest quality, he finds himself as the ‘GO TO’ man yet again. He knows that the selectors will use him like a piece of paper for this series and then go back to the slam bang kids for the easier series closer to home.

That’s why he has shrewdly announced his retirement and this is a very direct indicator to the selectors that he is not going to take this embarrassment any more. He being a true student of the game, will perform as always and will give a 100% to the team. He will most probably be anchoring the side’s fortunes from the spot that he has made his own, No.3

Looking back at his ODI stats, they are among the best ever. Despite that, he has always been branded as a Test player. He has this tendency to wear out the bowlers and the watching audience during the Test matches. This reputation has stuck on so strongly with him, that it has followed him to the ODI arena as well.

True, during his early days in the ODIs he could not force the pace as much as say a Sachin, Sourav or Jadeja. Sourav and Jadeja weren’t exactly setting the scorecard on fire with their scorching pace but they could pull off the big shots and this gave the impression that Sourav and Jadeja were actually better suited to the ODI game than Dravid while the truth was that Dravid was no less to anyone else in the ODI team.

Towards the latter part of his career, Dravid really upped the ante and his strike rate was always close to a run a ball. His career strike rate is 71 which compares favorably to Sourav’s. Sourav is regarded among the all time legends in ODI cricket and rightly so. But, Dravid is no push-over in this format, either.

Out of the 12 hundreds that he has in the ODI format, 6 of them came in 1999, his peak ODI season when he was 26. He was the top scorer in the 1999 CWC held in England with 2 hundreds, one each against Kenya and Sri Lanka. But, on both the occasions the thunder was stolen from right under his feet. The century against Kenya (104*) at Bristol was made alongside Sachin’s 100 which was right after Sachin’s dad’s demise. And the 145 against Sri Lanka at Taunton was made along side Sourav’s all time best 183. So typical of Dravid to stay in the background while his celebrated team mates hogged the limelight. And in 1999 he was also involved in the highest ever partnership in ODI cricket history at Hyderabad along with Sachin. Dravid scored 153, his career best while Sachin slammed 186*. No prizes for guessing who stole the headline in the following day’s news.

The only player to be a part of two 300plus partnerships in ODIs. This with Sourav and the other with Sachin.

After that, Dravid was made to bat at various positions and he was also given the responsibilities of keeping wickets. All the 100s that were sacrificed by Dravid were taken up by Sourav, Sachin, Sehwag, Yuvraj and the likes. Dravid would have definitely scored more 100s if he had continued at no.3. His run scoring pace might just be a tad less than the above mentioned experts but Dravid can be counted upon to deliver day in and day out. Epitome of consistency and succeeding the hard way.

On the whole a career average of 39.43 with 10,765 runs and a home and away average of 43 and 42 respectively. I bow down to you, Rahul. All these runs were made in relative anonymity. Never was a Rahul contribution given the media space that it deserved as they were more interested in the slam bangers and the guys who put up a show specifically for the media.

The last few times this image will appear on the TV screen as he walks in to bat

With Rahul what you saw was what you got. I have also not been a fan of his brand of cricket. I have also complained that this guy bores us to death and that it is better to do some other thing when he bats. But, when you see the balance sheet of Indian cricket during the times that Dravid has plied his trade, he will be on the FIXED ASSETS side almost always. He was rock solid

In 2007 during the Indian team’s previous ODI series in England under Dravid’s leadership, he was simply sublime. The rate of scoring was simply scorching. He was batting way down the order and he was playing the role of finisher. Such versatility. But, the coming series being on the back of this disastrous Test series will require some rock solid grit and patience from Dravid. Not very pleasing to the eye but that’s what the team needs.

But personally speaking, during this final hurrah in ODI cricket,I hope Dravid brings some fast paced action like how he did in IPL season 2 and in the 2007 series. That would be a nice way to sign off and a nice display of versatility and a stark contrast to his grim Test batting.

TRUST DRAVID TO MAKE THE TEAM’S THINK-TANK REALIZE HIS WORTH, ALL OVER AGAIN. HE WILL RISE ONE LAST TIME BEFORE THE FINAL DESCENT,