An Indian Cricket Paradox Resolved
Rahul Dravid Gets the Selectors' Nod
Rahul Dravid, the former Indian cricket captain who was called the wall for his solid anchoring, last played a one day international (ODI) in October, 2007. His defensive approach was no longer considered to be suitable for ODI cricket and so was axed.
But, the IPL (Indian Premier League) that came into being in February 2008 made Rahul Dravid one of the five highest paid icons. IPL is twenty20 meaning you have only twenty overs to build an innings in a match. Naturally, this is supposed to be tougher than ODIs where you have fifty overs. Now, if you are unfit for fifty over match, how on earth could you be considered not only fit but fit for an icon too. A paradox was thus created.
After India's debacle in the T20 world cup of 2009 there was continuous talk about Rahul's '˜experience' and '˜solidity'. Rahul is kind of a player whose dogged anchoring in building an innings never gets highlighted in so many wins of Team India. Some dashers who get the momentum from him manage to win the man of the match awards. The Wall always remains abandoned at the end.
On August 16, 2009, Rahul Dravid makes it to the 15 of Team India selected for the ODI Tri-series in Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy in South Africa, both scheduled for September, 2009.
Rahul is past 36. Under his captaincy the Royal Challengers did miserably in IPL-1. Though in IPL-2 the same team worked wonders, Rahul was no longer the captain and his performance showed only sporadic brilliancy. There were two major mistakes in the T20 debacle; selection of unfit Virender Sehwag and somewhat forcing Rohit Sarma into the role of an opener. While Sehwag only contributed to the team's low morale and never played a match, Rohit was a string of abject failures. And that made the selectors look for 'experience' and 'solidity'.
A paradox is resolved indeed. But how paradoxical it turns out to be in the final reckoning remains to be seen.
Published by Chinmay Chakravarty
Chinmay Chakravarty is a professional specialized in the creative field with over two decades of experience in journalistic writing, media co-ordination, film script writing, film dubbing, film & video makin... View profile
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