Dravid needs trust and patience of captain Kumble

Memonics

Rahul Dravid must wonder whether he is indeed the bulwark of the Indian team or the fall guy, now that he is likely to be asked to open the innings again. But given the circumstances — for both the team and him personally — I reckon he will welcome the challenge.

Even the truncated tour opener has shown what lies in store for the Indians Down Under, especially the batsmen. In between showers, the strong batting line-up was reduced to rubble — and the guys causing the damage were not the tornado-like Brett Lee and Shaun Tait who were playing havoc with New Zealand elsewhere, but a bunch of unknowns.

With the first Test due to start early next week, some crisis management became necessary. In fact, even before this match began, skipper Anil Kumble was trying to address another, lingering crisis: that of accommodating Yuvraj Singh in the first Test. Now he has the solution, if somewhat wrinkled.

The left-hander is in the form of his life, and after his blistering century against Pakistan in the Bangalore Test, he left no room for debate about his selection, even after the return of Sachin Tendulkar. Yuvraj’s excellent touch, and his naturally aggressive demeanour, gives the Indian batting the counter-attack thrust that would otherwise have been assigned to Virender Sehwag.

Perhaps Kumble had worked out his gameplan on the flight to Australia because he asked Dravid to open the batting in this match despite the strong show of favour for Sehwag before the team left India.

If there were more warm-up games (and why weren’t there more on such an important tour?) before the first Test, he would have had more opportunity to check out the form of all his batsmen before taking a call. Now he has to go by Dravid’s reputation - and, of course, their friendship, to effect this turnaround in strategy.

It’s not the best situation for a batsman to suddenly find the opener’s job thrust on him, but this might just be a blessing in disguise for Dravid. India’s most dependable and prolific batsman for the past 6-7 years, he has struggled has struggled for runs in recent times.

This year has been particularly traumatic — in more ways that just batsmanship — and a fresh task under an old friend might just help him rediscover himself, as it were.

This is not strictly a new experience for Dravid. The last time he opened in Test matches - against Pakistan in 2005 - he was a smash hit. He has the technique and the temperament to play express bowlers on fast, bouncy wickets. He has the patience to dig in for long periods of time, and become the pivot for the strokeplayers around him to pla their natural game.

That’s what Kumble will be hoping from his friend in need. In turn, Dravid will be seeking trust and patience from his captain: he needs the assurance of a full series even if there are some failures. His performances on the last tour to Australia were awesome, which should give him a measure of confidence that he has been lacking in recent months.

How broad Dravid’s bat can be is in direct proportion to his self-belief. When he is in complete control of himself, he is verily The Wall. In the past few series, however, his shoulders have drooped, the body language has been of a person preoccupied with things other than batting.

If by opening the innings, Dravid can shrug off that despondency, it is a boon for Indian cricket - not just for the series against Australia, but much longer.