Dhoni’s gestures in 2008, when former captains Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble retired from the game, spoke volumes about the man.
Will India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni give former captain and senior pro Rahul Dravid a fitting send-off on Friday?
Dhoni’s gestures in 2008, when former captains Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble retired from the game, spoke volumes about the man. Dhoni let the combative Ganguly lead the side for a brief period against Australia in the final Test in Nagpur.
Earlier in the series, he’d carried Kumble on his broad shoulders after Jumbo had played his last Test in New Delhi. He also made sure that India’s greatest wicket-taker was there at the podium to receive the trophy after they’d wrapped up the series 2-0 in the Orange City.
Though Dravid has so far failed to set the stage ablaze in the final ODI series of his career — he’s managed a meagre 55 runs at 13.75 from four matches — it’s his overall tally — 10,820 runs from 343 ODIs at 39.06 — which commands utmost respect.
Dravid is the second highest scorer ever in Test cricket but hasn’t done badly in ODIs, in which he is seventh in the all-time list, ahead of players like Brian Lara and Mahela Jayawardene.
Dhoni has always made at least one gesture to honour a senior cricketer who has announced retirement from international cricket. After the World Cup triumph, arguably the greatest moment of their lives, Dhoni and his men chaired Sachin Tendulkar on their shoulders for a victory lap in Mumbai.
But as far as Dravid is concerned, the India skipper has not given any indication of whether there is any plan to give the veteran a fitting send-off. It is ironical that Dhoni had a hand in showing Dravid the door from the ODI team for the first time during a series against Australia in 2007. Dravid announced his retirement from ODIs soon after he learnt of his inclusion in the Indian side for the five-match series against England.
Besides showing respect to his senior, Dhoni could have three additional reasons for honouring Dravid. He became the Indian captain only after Dravid refused to go to South Africa for the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in 2007. Dravid later also resigned from Test captaincy, which paved the way for Dhoni to get the honour of leading India in the longer version of the game as well.
The second reason could be the affiliation the two have as wicketkeepers of the side. The third, of course, is Dravid’s magnificent run in the Test series in which he scored 461 runs with three centuries at an average 76.83. He was the only Indian to salvage some honour in the team’s 0-4 whitewash, which was Dhoni’s first series loss as captain.
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