Breaking/Brief news
August 19, 2009
Rahul Dravid's selection just doesn't make sense
I'm a huge fan of Rahul Dravid. Anyone who has talked cricket with me, and anyone who has followed this blog over the past 5.5 years, would have realized it.
Yet, I really believe it was totally stupid to get Dravid to dust off his blue gear. The very fact that he was named in the list of 30 probables for the ICC Champions Trophy obviously meant that he was always going to be in the final 15. On Sunday, he was picked for the tri-series in Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy.
There are various reasons bandied around for his selection, including the inability of India's young batsmen to cope with short-pitched bowling at the T20 World Cup, Sehwag's absence, the need to get Dhoni to play his natural swashbuckling style, Dravid's ability to play the short ball, the fact that the Champions Trophy will be in South Africa (where bowlers get significantly more help), and that Dravid proved he still had his limited-over skills & exhibited them in the 2009 edition of the Indian Premier League.
There are many reasons why Dravid's selection makes no sense.
- If Dravid has been selected because the likes of Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir, etc. got found out against the short ball, what happens if he succeeds in Sri Lanka and flops in South Africa? Do the selectors recall Rohit Sharma? Even if Rohit hasn't shown any improvement in skills against short-pitched bowling?
- What happens if Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Gautam Gambhir, etc. show a marked improvement in handling quick bowling? Do the selectors give Rahul a vote of thanks for his guest appearance?
- What happens if Dravid fails in Sri Lanka and South Africa?
- What happens if Dravid succeeds in Sri Lanka and South Africa? Do the selectors keep picking him until he announces his retirement?
- What happens if Dravid fails in Sri Lanka but succeeds in South Africa? Given that the next World Cup is in the sub-continent, how would that do the Indian team any good?
- For all the talk about his performance in the 2009 IPL, he averaged 22.6 with a quite pathetic strike rate of 116.
- He hasn't played a single domestic one-day game since March 2008.
- He doesn't seem to have played in the Buchi Babu or the KSCA tournaments. So he's basically going into the two series without any sort of match practice.
- Even England, and let me re-emphasize that, ENGLAND, after so much talk around recalling Ramprakash, Trescothick, etc., didn't do something stupid!
An related rant, written nearly a decade ago - "Azhar's recall a retrograde step".
Labels: 2009 champions trophy, champions trophy, dravid, gambhir, raina, rohit sharma, selection, squad
Thus spake Jagadish @ 11:57 pm | Sledge/Read 4 sledge(s)
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February 06, 2008
Rohit Sharma fined 10%
Rohit Sharma was found guilty of violating clause 1.3 of the ICC's code of conduct and he was fined 10% of his match fee for showing dissent at an umpire's decision in the game against Sri Lanka yesterday.
I wonder if there was any attempt by the Indian representatives (Rohit Sharma & the manager, Chetan Chauhan) to tell Jeff Crowe (who has previously let off Brett Lee despite being a repeat level-1 offender and Ricky Ponting for disgracefully attempting to get the on-field umpires to re-refer a decision to the third umpire) that Rohit Sharma was terribly disappointed that Rudi Koertzen (who has a habit of apologizing after screwing up with his decisions) gave him out stumped when his foot was very firmly behind/in the crease.
The sub-text is that Rohit Sharma was bloody obviously not out caught, since he never even touched the ball! This is yet another instance of the hopeless quality of umpiring, especially in the last few months.
At least someone like Rohit Sharma is unlikely to be dropped on the basis of one duck. There are several instances of players not being considered after an inning or two, or after bowling a handful of overs, in international cricket. How likely is it that some of those players copped horrendous decisions from the umpires?
Labels: Commonwealth Bank Series, icc, india, rohit sharma, sri lanka, statistic, umpires
Thus spake Jagadish @ 3:17 pm | Sledge/Read 1 sledge(s)
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