At Rahul’s house, it is all quiet

His Karnataka teammates flay selectors for dropping him

BANGALORE: Rahul Dravid’s house in Bangalore remained shut on Saturday as the news of his dropping was announced in Ahmedabad. The former India skipper was not reachable as the news spread across the city. The family was busy with arrangements of his mother Pushpa Dravid’s painting exhibition at a five star hotel in Bangalore. It was later found out that Dravid was in Mumbai for a shoot.

The environment around his house on a busy street in Indiranagar remained normal even after the news. The Irani tea stall adjacent to his house was full of customers as usual discussing the consequences on Dravid’s career. “He is out only for couple of matches. He will soon be back, though this announcement has shocked me. I haven’t spotted the cricketer recently,” said the tea-maker of the shop, Nabi Saab.

Though other cricketers and the experts have been pointing at his poor performance in the recent past and justified his dropping from the team, Dravid has support in his hometown Bangalore. The Karnataka cricketers are shocked at the news.

“It is a tragedy that a world-class batsman like Dravid is dropped for his poor performance and fitness reasons,” said the Karnataka wicket keeper and Karnataka State Cricket Association member Avinash Vaidya. “He has been fit enough and a competent cricketer in the Indian team,” added the player, who played against England in February 1995.

Seconding Vaidya, Karnataka skipper Sujit Somasunder said, “Every player has low and high times in career. I am sure this is Dravid’s low period and dropping him at this point of time is not a good decision. It would be difficult to find a good replacement for him to play against good teams.”