Rahul Dravid’s Final ODI Does Indian Cricket a Tremendous Favour
Sreelata Yellamrazu: The fifth India England ODI will hold special significance even though the series is already lost as far as India are concerned. Even as England cap off on a high after completing both, the Test and ODI series, win over India, Rahul Dravid will bring the Sreelata Yellamrazu:
The fifth India England ODI will hold special significance even though the series is already lost as far as India are concerned. Even as England cap off on a high after completing both, the Test and ODI series, win over India, Rahul Dravid will bring the curtains down on his ODI career.
Rahul Dravid has literally been the lone man standing given that even Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Indian captain, is still standing despite the idea of sore fingers and legs in a series that has gone horribly wrong for the Indian team that landed in England as the no.1 Test team in the world and the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 champions but leaves with their tail between their legs.
For Rahul Dravid, playing his 344th ODI, he has been accorded a rare send off in a format he has not been given a chance to exploit in the last couple of years. In that light, perhaps Dravid finds it more amusing that he is bidding an official good bye to a format he had already thought past him and therefore, does not seem quite as emotional about it, not that Dravid is often given to showing his emotions.
For Indian cricket though, it was an opportunity to highlight just how they have perhaps undervalued Dravid, nicknamed the Wall, in the shorter format, only to fall back on him when India felt light on talent and resources. His selection, as on this Indian tour of England, has not only shocked him but also, showed that perhaps the Indian selectors have been less than consistent in their opinion of Dravid.
This was despite the fact that in the ICC Cricket World Cup 1999 in England, Rahul Dravid was the leading run-scorer, with 461 runs with an average of 66 from 8 matches. He was also the only Indian batsman to score two back to back centuries at the World Cup with his110 against Kenya and a memorable 145 against Sri Lanka at Taunton. Yet Dravid found himself out of the Indian cricket team despite havign previously featured as the sole Indian in the ICC World ODI XI.
For Dravid, what must be interesting is the fact that when he did not see the opportunity to feature one last time officially for Indian cricket in the one day format, he has been given the chance. However, as has often warranted Dravid’s presence in fifty overs cricket, his name is mentioned once more as Indian cricket find themselves in the midst of a dip. With the series having already been lost, the idea that Dravid is getting a send off seems rather anti climatic. Although he may have his personal reasons, it is hard to imagine Dravid being gaga over the opportunity while his team has been thrust into the doldrums by a superior team. Unfortunately for Dravid, this tour of England could well be remembered for the debacle that has been Indian cricket rather than the stature that Dravid presented despite the trying circumstances.
For a man who has scored over 10,000 ODI, it is hard to argue that he does not belong to this format of the game. Yet Dravid was given an unceremonious send off years before and although he is virtually indispensable in the Indian Test squad, his services in the ODI team were considered less than adequate. That he has even found this recall is a bolt out of the blue. And in his leaving the stage, he does not leave behind a dent simply because he has not been part of this format and it has meant that youngsters have had the opportunity to be shaped, and while some other senior cricketers would have looked at it as an opportunity to prolong their careers – who retires at thirty-odd years of age these days – Dravid is giving credence and respectability not only to himself but also, to the Indian cricket by not blocking a format from which he has perhaps mentally switched off, albeit forcibly. That he gets to bid the one day format adieu is a chance for Indian cricket to salute the man in a format he has never been given his due.