Rahul Dravid – The Great Wall of India

Countdown to ICC Cricket World Cup 2007

Rahul Dravid completes our look on the holy trinity of Indian batsmen, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly being the other two. Dravid has been India’s Mr. Dependable for quite some time now. His stride to the middle always brings about a calm in both the dressing room as well as in the hearts of a billion fans. One can be rest assured that whatever be the situation of the match that he walks into, he will give his 100% out there on the field. It is no wonder that over the years his has become the most prized wicket in the Indian batting line up.

When he first started off he was the man who somehow seemed destined to be overshadowed by somebody else. He had a very impressive debut in England and missed a century there by a whisker. However people remember that test for the century on debut at Lords by Ganguly. When he scored his highest scores in ODI somebody else overshadowed him, twice! He had a hand in one of the greatest rescue acts in the history of cricket at Kolkata in 2000. Even that match is remembered for the exploits of his partner at the other end, VVS Laxman. It was one of those magical moments in test cricket when both of them batted for a whole day and turned a certain defeat into a miraculous victory.

He has always been one of the most technically equipped batsmen in the modern era, in an era when fast scoring is the norm and throwing your bat at all and sundry seems to be the only way to perform, Dravid stands out for his superb technique. It is but a reflection of the time he is playing that once he was thought to be a bit too technical and heavily criticized for his slow batting. There were even suggestions that he should only be played in the tests and be dropped for the ODI, which they eventually did. Thankfully better sense prevailed and before long he returned as a much improved batsmen. He later on became such an integral part of the team that he has now taken over the captaincy from Ganguly in both forms of the game.

Dravid’s utility to the team is unquestionable. Take a look at any of our major victories in India or abroad and you will have Dravid playing a major role in it. Be it the one at Kolkata, Headingly, Adelaide, Jamaica or Rawalpindi. It is a proof of his technical prowess that he has been able to negotiate the seam and bounce of foreign pitches. Some may not find him to be entertaining. But he gets you the results. Sometimes in pursuit of victory you might have to cut out some of the flashiness and grind it out. What matters most is not if you have entertained the crowd, it is whether you have won the match or not.

Dravid has time and again proven that he is a perfect team man. Who can forget the times when he would keep the wickets so that the team would get some much needed balance? This was the single most important factor for India’s successful run at the world cup last time. You can see the elation or pain etched on his face depending on the fortunes of the team. Just look at the way he celebrates when the team wins, it is a 1000 time more emotional than when he reaches a personal milestone. His commitment to the team is absolute.

Dravid as a captain has been less of a success than as a batsman. He has been found strangely devoid of ideas at crucial moments when the going gets tough for the team. Dravid by character is a quiet and restrained man. But on the field he needs to show a bit more aggression. Then again all this would matter less if he is able to bring back the World Cup to India after a long gap of 24 years. Dravid would know that a billion people will be rooting for his team, and there is no better man to rest our faiths with.

Saurav Ganguly – The Return of the Prince

Countdown to ICC Cricket World Cup 2007

After the recently concluded Sri Lanka series, there is no doubt as to who the real hero for the Indian cricket team is right now. Having been declared the man of the series for this series Dada must be looking back with quite satisfaction at the dramatic turn of events in the last 4 months or so. Ostracized from the Indian team almost a year back, his exit has been well documented and his return now has been equally glorious.

The prince of Kolkata (a title given to him by Sir Geoffrey Boycott) was unceremoniously dumped out of the team for reasons not entirely cricketing. His form, his supposed immobility in the field, and his overall attitude to the game were all cited as reasons for his exclusion. His public spat with the coach and the subsequent fallout with the powers that be in Indian cricket did not help his cause either.

However the way Dada dealt with this blow is really admirable. He went back to county and domestic cricket to work on each and every single aspect of his game that was subjected to criticism and came back with an answer for each and every one of them.

It was said that he can’t play on fast and bouncy tracks. He answered this with some superlative performances in South Africa, where you can find some of the bounciest tracks in the world. He was among the few batsmen to have come out of that tour with their heads held high. The other aspect of his game subject to much ridicule was his fielding. I can’t remember him dropping any catches after his comeback. As a matter of fact, he pulled off a great catch in the series against Sri Lanka indicating the progress that he has made as a fielder. He may still not be the sharpest of fielders, but he has become a reliable enough one. As for his attitude, anybody who has seen him on and off the field would vouch for his change. His focus is so unwavering; one could almost sense the hunger in his eyes. This was illustrated when he came out to practice on a rain affected day in South Africa when the rest of the team had already left for the hotel. One could almost feel his burning desire to shut the critics up once and for all.

Sourav’s second coming (or third coming rather, if you consider that he was actually selected for the Australian tour of 1992) augurs well for team India when they are on the threshold of embarking on the most important tournament of the year. India needs Ganguly to be at the top of his game if India has to have any chance of winning the world cup. He along with Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid form the holy trinity of Indian cricket. And all three knows that this could very well be their last chance of winning the World Cup.

Sourav has an important role to play in the world cup. Since our fielding is the weakest point we will need our batsmen to make up those runs that our fielders will invariably give away. And Sourav, who is now almost certain to open the batting for India at the World Cup, will be playing a lead role in achieving this. Presently he is slotted at the right position as he has scored a majority of his runs at the top of the order. His record in ODIs is second only to that of Sachin Tendulkar. His greatest value to the team however will be his handling of spinners, as the pitches in the West Indies are almost certain to assist the slower bowlers. There is no better batsman who can handle the spinners as Sourav can. If he can stay in the middle till the 35th over then expect the spinners to be murdered. His medium pace bowling too will come in handy for India at a time when we are struggling to find bowlers to complete their quota of overs.

Ganguly must be savoring the moment right now as he would those sweet Bengali Rôshogollas one gets at his home town. The Bengal Tiger is back with a bang and you can be rest assured that he would be leading the charge for India in the West Indies.