Kamlesh Barjati
Banned
- Joined
- 26 May 2011
- Messages
- 1,087
- Reaction score
- 31
After regaling the audience over a span of 16 years, Dravid has made a silent exit from the international scene. In a career that saw him achieve many highs and few lows, Dravid was the inspiration behind many outstanding performances of the team. A realistic individual and a team-man to the core, Dravid has quit on his own terms, something that has been rare in recent history. In his own words, Dravid has had some wonderful moments but it is now time for the younger generations to take India forward.
Dravid has not just been a wonderful player, he was a superb captain as well. As in his batting, he experienced some terrific highs but also some significant lows. He was not seemingly assertive like his predecessor nor presented a steely determined face like his successor. He was a man who had a soft exterior which belied the hardness underneath, a man capable of taking tough decisions that steered Team India towards greater glory.
The ones who have experienced it say that captaincy is a thorny bush to sit on. If there is one country where the captaincy acts as a double edged sword, it is certainly India. It is a land where you are praised to the sky for every success, but can expect the literal opposite for even the smallest of failures. The cricket captain is treated as the man responsible for each and every facet of the game. He survives on a daily basis under the scrutiny from all quarters, the team, the board, the media and the frenzied fan.
It is to the credit of Rahul Dravid that he came out of the jig-saw puzzle called Indian captaincy with flying colours. He was the commoner's skipper, one who led from the front and rallied his troops under adverse conditions.
I recall Dravid as perhaps the only captain who could take decisions that could have made him unpopular. Which captain in the world would have declared leaving Sachin Tendulkar just six short of a satisfying double ton against your arch rivals in their own backyard? Dravid did so, and his explanation was convincing.
What would a skipper do when he has a total of just 104 to defend against the World No. 1 team, Australia? The obvious answer would be to just get your best bowler as soon as possible. But what does Dravid do? Anil Kumble, the best bowler India has ever seen is held back with the skipper reposing faith in Harbhajan Singh and a young Murali Kartik. India won the thriller at Mumbai. Dravid's captaincy was a delight although he was just deputising for an injured Ganguly.
Dravid challenged himself and his team by taking decisions which seemed hasty and worthless to a partisan viewer. On a green pitch at Lahore, Dravid opted to bat. His reasoning was simple, India needed to learn to fight adversity. India lost the match but gained a lot more as a team.
Dravid's relationship with former coach Greg Chappell is a much talked affair. Dravid was often seen as one who toed the Chappell line without a question. Nothing could have been farther away from the truth. While the coach was renowned for his straight talk, Dravid was a man who was far more assertive of his own mind. The two inspired a new generation of Indian cricket, took India away from the dark ages where individual records were given more precedence than team priorities. A new India developed, there were wins at places where India barely saw a fight under the predecessors, and a series was won in the Caribbean Islands after a period of 35 years. India looked unto the world with confidence. To borrow a phrase, 'India shining' was a reality.
As it happens, one failure can take away lot of positives. Professional sport is a cruel place, the focus being more on winning and less on the attributes that make a winning team. India slipped badly against Bangladesh in the opener of the 2007 WC match with their hopes of advancing to the next round lying on a thin thread. India lost the must win match against Sri Lanka and were one of the two high profile heavyweights to be knocked out at the preliminary stage. Dravid was crushed, the writing seemed to be on the wall. Coach Chappell resigned having failed to achieve the objective which he set out for. The confidence of the nation was punctured.
However, Dravid is not a loser and the sad exit from the World Cup was not the ideal way to bid good-bye to captaincy. He returned with vengeance leading India to series victories away to Bangladesh and England. The win in England was one of the most satisfying moments of Indian cricket. The country had beaten their old colonial masters after a period of 21 years. Even as the nation was celebrating a grand achievement, Dravid dropped the bomb-shell by resigning from the captaincy. He was going to quit on a high and not be forced into doing it.
If Ganguly had laid the seeds for modern India, it is fair to say that Dravid and Kumble nurtured it and grew it into a big tree, the fruits of which could be enjoyed by the next generation of Indian captains. Four and a half years after he bid good-bye to captaincy, Dravid has retired from international cricket on his own terms. Once again, people have been forced to ask why and not when. After sixteen years, the normal sight of reassurance seeing Dravid walk in at the fall of an early wicket will be missing. This might have well being the last view of classical text-book cricket. As Dravid himself stated, he leaves the sport with a tinge of sadness but with a lot of pride.
© Cricbuzz
Dravid has not just been a wonderful player, he was a superb captain as well. As in his batting, he experienced some terrific highs but also some significant lows. He was not seemingly assertive like his predecessor nor presented a steely determined face like his successor. He was a man who had a soft exterior which belied the hardness underneath, a man capable of taking tough decisions that steered Team India towards greater glory.
The ones who have experienced it say that captaincy is a thorny bush to sit on. If there is one country where the captaincy acts as a double edged sword, it is certainly India. It is a land where you are praised to the sky for every success, but can expect the literal opposite for even the smallest of failures. The cricket captain is treated as the man responsible for each and every facet of the game. He survives on a daily basis under the scrutiny from all quarters, the team, the board, the media and the frenzied fan.
It is to the credit of Rahul Dravid that he came out of the jig-saw puzzle called Indian captaincy with flying colours. He was the commoner's skipper, one who led from the front and rallied his troops under adverse conditions.
I recall Dravid as perhaps the only captain who could take decisions that could have made him unpopular. Which captain in the world would have declared leaving Sachin Tendulkar just six short of a satisfying double ton against your arch rivals in their own backyard? Dravid did so, and his explanation was convincing.
What would a skipper do when he has a total of just 104 to defend against the World No. 1 team, Australia? The obvious answer would be to just get your best bowler as soon as possible. But what does Dravid do? Anil Kumble, the best bowler India has ever seen is held back with the skipper reposing faith in Harbhajan Singh and a young Murali Kartik. India won the thriller at Mumbai. Dravid's captaincy was a delight although he was just deputising for an injured Ganguly.
Dravid challenged himself and his team by taking decisions which seemed hasty and worthless to a partisan viewer. On a green pitch at Lahore, Dravid opted to bat. His reasoning was simple, India needed to learn to fight adversity. India lost the match but gained a lot more as a team.
Dravid's relationship with former coach Greg Chappell is a much talked affair. Dravid was often seen as one who toed the Chappell line without a question. Nothing could have been farther away from the truth. While the coach was renowned for his straight talk, Dravid was a man who was far more assertive of his own mind. The two inspired a new generation of Indian cricket, took India away from the dark ages where individual records were given more precedence than team priorities. A new India developed, there were wins at places where India barely saw a fight under the predecessors, and a series was won in the Caribbean Islands after a period of 35 years. India looked unto the world with confidence. To borrow a phrase, 'India shining' was a reality.
As it happens, one failure can take away lot of positives. Professional sport is a cruel place, the focus being more on winning and less on the attributes that make a winning team. India slipped badly against Bangladesh in the opener of the 2007 WC match with their hopes of advancing to the next round lying on a thin thread. India lost the must win match against Sri Lanka and were one of the two high profile heavyweights to be knocked out at the preliminary stage. Dravid was crushed, the writing seemed to be on the wall. Coach Chappell resigned having failed to achieve the objective which he set out for. The confidence of the nation was punctured.
However, Dravid is not a loser and the sad exit from the World Cup was not the ideal way to bid good-bye to captaincy. He returned with vengeance leading India to series victories away to Bangladesh and England. The win in England was one of the most satisfying moments of Indian cricket. The country had beaten their old colonial masters after a period of 21 years. Even as the nation was celebrating a grand achievement, Dravid dropped the bomb-shell by resigning from the captaincy. He was going to quit on a high and not be forced into doing it.
If Ganguly had laid the seeds for modern India, it is fair to say that Dravid and Kumble nurtured it and grew it into a big tree, the fruits of which could be enjoyed by the next generation of Indian captains. Four and a half years after he bid good-bye to captaincy, Dravid has retired from international cricket on his own terms. Once again, people have been forced to ask why and not when. After sixteen years, the normal sight of reassurance seeing Dravid walk in at the fall of an early wicket will be missing. This might have well being the last view of classical text-book cricket. As Dravid himself stated, he leaves the sport with a tinge of sadness but with a lot of pride.
© Cricbuzz