In our country if somebody does a good job - we overburden him with our expectations. We have done it to tendulkar and instead of allowing him to blossom into a batsman at the Test as well as the one-day evrsion of the game - we made him a one-day phenomenon and somewhere doen the road he lost the class and became an attacking whacker of the ball.
Today Dravid is on the threshold of becoming one of the best Test batsmen in the world. Today when we desperately need to improve our Test standings - Dravid who is our best batsmen in Tests has to be preserved like the costliest jewel in our treasure.
If we are going to use him as a wicketkeeper just for the tactical reason of having 7 batsmen then we are making a mockery of his contributions . Some may argue about Adam Gilchrist - but he is a born wicketkeeper - thats not the case with dravid.
And if we do need the seven batsman formula then why not somebody younger like Mohammad Kaif ( who has good reflexes) take it .
For a min, we will see a scenario without Dravid as the keeper...so how do we comprise the team?Who do we remove and put the keeper in? Sachin(blasphemous if anybody raises his eyebrows against this man) Sehwag, he is most exciting opening batsmen in the world today. Laxman Do we still need to debate after his performance in Australia? Yuvraj...he is an artist in the field, and a handy allrounder, he is performing well too!! Kaif Excellent fielder and an ideal batsmen in the lower middle order, can play crucial innings(has played) Kumble/Bhajji we need one spinner atleast Irfan/Zaheer/Balaji/Nehra, we need atleast three fast bowlers. Basically 4 bowlers,2 openers,2 lower order batsmen, Laxman and Dravid himself ,thats ten.That leaves with Ganguly!! So,for specialist keeper the only place you have in the team is of the skipper!!This sounds ridiculous inspite of ridiculous performances by Ganguly off late!! So lets understand that there is no place for a keeper in the present team!! And Patel isnt a keeper for whom the team balance can be ruined! So first lets find a good keeper and then debate whether we can include him in the team!! Till then Hail Dravid!!
it looks like sri is over reacting. doing both jobs(wicket keeping and batting) is tough but then that is how life is. Let us look at Gilchrist, he keeps and opens the batting. It only shows how fit a player is and more importantly a player who can keep and bat well will be an asset to the team. Sourav and John have done a good thing by asking dravid to keep. this will make the wicket keepers slot a difficult one to grab and there will be good competion for the slot.
One day cricket is all about prooving your strength in all depertments of the game. Time has witnessed wicketkeepers has done excellently well in battting Rahul Dravid ,Adam Gilchrist,Moin Khan,Syed Kirmani, Iaan Hilly and many more .We should boost Rahul any thing else is totally unfair.
Stop cribing. Dravid as a keeper allows us an extra batsmen/ bowler which makes the Indian team more dynamic and frankly gives us a shot with the likes of Australia.
If Gilchirst can do it why can't Dravid. Let's start pushing ourselves to greater heights.
RE:Yeah Yeah
by Harish on Jul 18, 2004 06:12 AM
Varad,
Gilchrist is primarily a wicket keeper. Starting in 1981 as a wicket keeper, opender and skipper, Gilchrist has proved himself to be a all rounder.
Dravid is a specialist batsman and it is unfair to involve him in keeping regularly especially knowing that we rely on his performance a lot.
I agree that having a specialist keeper will remove one batsman from the team. And with all due repects, the first person to be removed from the team seems to be the Indian skipper. No wonder he wants Dravid to keep the wickets.
Yes it is bad logic to ask Dravid to keep the wickets. As I gather from various sound bites for the last two years, it is Sourav who is pushing Rahul to keep the wickets. Yes, Rahul has to do it for the team, and Sachin also does it to the best of his abilities (bowling and fielding), even improvising on his bowling. What does Sourav do for the team, apart from bossing around ?? HIS FIELDING IS THE WORST IN INTERNATIONAL CRICKET that I have seen. Has he improved for the team's sake ?? He has not improved for the last ten years, but he expect others to give that extra bit for the team !! How ironic !! That too from the captain !! TOO BAD !!
RE:Rahul Dravid as Wicket Keeper
by varad on Jul 18, 2004 08:59 PM
Well,
By the same token, Gilchrist wouldnt open as a batsmen if he/aussies came up with sissy excuses like u guys. He'd start cribbing about keeping and opening the innings too.
As for replacing ganguly. That ought to be done as soon as possible.
RE:Rahul Dravid as Wicket Keeper
by haris on Jul 17, 2004 10:18 PM
ure soo right dude...sheesh ganguly himself scores usually against the non-test playing nations (world cup 2003), keeps bossing round ..gives 'professional' statements in a manner as if he is way ahead of Don Bradman!! ust yesterday, he stated that 'Pathan and Balaji' bowled well..just well??? hello...they bowled remarkably exquisitely well u creep!! try improving ur own game before everyone in the team feel they've had enough of yah!!
RE:Rahul Dravid as Wicket Keeper
by Rittick on Jul 17, 2004 11:58 PM
I also can't see the agony of Rahul - giving last drop of energy everyday at ground & uttering at press conference that he is enjoying this dual role for his country! Actually, he is the ultimum of teamgame - can't say a single word which will overshadow him as 'RAHUL in person' rather than a teamman. It's also true if he disgarees to keep, it'll affect the balance of a winning team. I am sure he'll not go against team; rather his cricketing life may B shorter ! He is so dedicated he can't think in this way. May B it's the effect of his iternal bad luck that being such a performer he is obliged to keep wicket. Luck is not with him; but hope, god will be with him; hope, one day he will get his reward - reward for NO TALK, ALL PERFORMANCE.
If its unfair that Dravid keeps, then again its clear that u are not looking at improvement in the Indian team. This was the main reason why India couldn't perform well all these years...And now again senior men like Srinath tell abt this....We all like seeing a new Indian team...Let the good continue!
There's absolutely no doubt in what Srinath says abour Dravid...... He's been the sole Experienced consistent performer both on pitch and field. The dual burden for long term might take a toll on him. Helping India reach the World Cup finals last year with his dedication and sacrifice, he has to be rested of this now. It's still some time ahead before the next world cup and I guess its the perfect time to rope in young Parthiv. Maximum India should wait is ICC Champions Trophy.
Srinathji, no, it is not at all unfair. Why cant he do both the jobs for country???? Dravid is doing both the things (keeping and batting) very well. Please dont disturb balance of the present team. There are many good batsmans who keep well too. Austrailia, South Africa, SriLanka have a wicket keeper who is good batsman. If Dravid is removed from keeping it costs India a good batsman or bowler.
