Dravid dropped

DNA Analysis

Back to the wall

MUMBAI: The significance is not in the semantics, but what it means for the future of Indian cricket: Dropped or rested, Rahul Dravid will not be playing (at least) the first two one-day matches against Pakistan. Whether this means he will never play one-day cricket again is the million dollar question.

Such has been the build-up of sentiment about seniors that the selectors were on the backfoot, as it were, at least where Dravid and Ganguly are concerned. Messrs Vengsarkar and Co, one learns, had kept up the debate informally for a week, before ousting Dravid formally on Saturday.

The decision, even if described as ‘unanimous’, cannot conceal the erosion in support for Dravid among the selectors. 

Clearly his sudden decision to surrender the captaincy on the eve of Australia’s one-day series had not gone down well with the establishment.

Loss of form only aggravated the situation for Dravid. His reason for giving up the captaincy was to concentrate on his batting, but scores of 31, 0, 13, 0, and 7 in the last series, bespoke a player who looked to be in the dumps - mentally and otherwise. When he was rested for the One-dayer in Mumbai, the signs were clear that his place was on the anvil.

Where does Dravid go from here? His Test place remains secure, what with India scheduled to play Pakistan, Australia and South Africa. But losing a place in the one-day side means allowing somebody else the opportunity to grab the attention of selectors even for Tests.

Less than two years after he was heralded in with much fanfare as captain, Dravid finds himself in a grim battle for survival. Having been the bulwark of the Indian batting for almost a decade, he knows what it means to fight with his back to the wall. He has to raise his spirit, will himself back into form. More than anything else, he needs to start enjoying his cricket again.