[WindRide]

Originally Posted by vamsi.kona

.... The best thing for Dravid would be to retire from ODI's after this series. He would be going out on a high note.

U hit bulls eye there dude.
Dravid just announced retirement from ODIs after England series.

I will miss him. The only genuine cricketer among a sea of pretenders.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by vamsi.kona

The best thing for Dravid would be to retire from ODI's after this series. He would be going out on a high note.

That's is exactly what is going to happen - Rahul Dravid set to retire from T20s and ODIs - The Times of India. I guess the BCCI wanted him to have a graceful exit that's why they selecting him! He's been a true legend & a team-man, he also kept wickets for the sake of the team.

[vamsi.kona]

Originally Posted by WindRide

U hit bulls eye there dude.
Dravid just announced retirement from ODIs after England series.

I will miss him. The only genuine cricketer among a sea of pretenders.

Originally Posted by PPS

That's is exactly what is going to happen - Rahul Dravid set to retire from T20s and ODIs - The Times of India. I guess the BCCI wanted him to have a graceful exit that's why they selecting him! He's been a true legend & a team-man, he also kept wickets for the sake of the team.

A great era is slowly coming to end. I never really understood what it meant when many older people spoke about they becoming sad and losing some enthusiasm when players like Gavaskar etc retired. But now I think I can relate to the situation. Though I may not lose my interest to watch the game, there will be some dearth, of the gamesmanship that this proud Indian displayed on and off the field.

I wouldn't say there will not be players with the talent of Dravid. But I am not sure there will be such a great ambassador for the game. Out of the fantastic five (Sachin, Ganguly, Kumble, Laxman and Dravid), Dravid was the least gifted. But he had a heart as big as any man can accommodate. His sheer Perseverance, Grit, Determination, Humility, Humbleness and Never say die attitude made me to adore this gentle giant. He was there when the team needed. Such was his image that during Ganguly's captaincy if there was any tricky situation, many a times it was Dravid who addressed the media, for the team knew everyone would be less hostile to this gentle giant.

I always believed that the 2003 world cup squad was one of the best India had except for Dinesh mongia. Some members of that team deserved to be world champions, and none better than Dravid. A player who scored more than 12000 runs and 10000 in ODI's and still remains humble, qualities of not only a great player but a great individual.

I can go on writing but I shall keep that for the day he retires from Tests. For now all I can say is he was and shall remain a champion, a true gentleman in gentleman's game.

[karanraheja]

Originally Posted by PPS

Interesting move by the Selectors in choosing Dravid! This move clearly shows that we do not have the bench strength to maintain our no.1 ranking. We need a solid player at no.4 to hold the innings together in the ODI's, seems as if Dravid will fill that role in England.

I would disagree totally about bench strength ( atleast for ODI's) . The selectors could have easily opted for Manoj Tiwary, Badrinath, Saurabh Tiwary or even Rayudu ( who i think should have been opted over Parthiv) .I think its the present form of our batsmen because we have failed to score above 300 + in last 2 tours. Only Raina and Dravid have been in good form .

Even im surprised about the inclusion of Dravid and i dont think the Selectors have pressed the Panic button by selecting Dravid as it is being mentioned in the media. Even Jayasuriya was recalled by SL sometime back ( IIRC for England Tour?)

[harry10]

I think Selectors decided this in sync with him.
He deserves this farewell and i will be mighty sad when he retires.

Really hope atleast in ODI's we play like world champions!

[PPS]

Originally Posted by karanraheja

I would disagree totally about bench strength ( atleast for ODI's) . The selectors could have easily opted for Manoj Tiwary, Badrinath, Saurabh Tiwary or even Rayudu ( who i think should have been opted over Parthiv) .I think its the present form of our batsmen because we have failed to score above 300 + in last 2 tours. Only Raina and Dravid have been in good form .

The above players you have mentioned would have been all at sea in England! They can only perform on flat pitches in the sub-continent.
And about Raina , he has only got a 50 on this tour & the way he is playing i dont think he belongs to Test Cricket! The short ball is his biggest problem as he is a compulsive hooker. I wish some of our younger players learn something from Dravid, especially how to build an innings. They have to weather the storm just like how Yuvraj did in the second test.

[karanraheja]

Originally Posted by PPS

The above players you have mentioned would have been all at sea in England! They can only perform on flat pitches in the sub-continent.
And about Raina , he has only got a 50 on this tour & the way he is playing i dont think he belongs to Test Cricket! The short ball is his biggest problem as he is a compulsive hooker. I wish some of our younger players learn something from Dravid, especially how to build an innings. They have to weather the storm just like how Yuvraj did in the second test.

If we dont give these youngsters a chance in overseas tours , how do you think improve??? If we can give a youngster like Mukund a chance in Tests , why cant the others get a chance in ODI? About Raina, i hope you saw his batting in the 2nd innings of the 1st Test, he did bat brilliantly . The short ball has been a problem for Yuvi too. Even Ganguly used to have a tough time facing short pitch deliveries.

[normally_crazy]

I would like to see Pujara in the Test team (when he recovers from his injury) in place of Raina and Badrinath and rayadu as back-ups. None of the other players like Saurabh Tiwari, Manoj Tiwary etc look good for the longer version.

So if the big 3 retire - what is the team we are looking at ?

Gambhir
Sehwag
Pujara
Badrinath
Yuvraj
Dhoni
Rayadu
Ishant
Praveen
Amit Mishra
Sreesanth
Ashwin
Kohli
Rahane
and one more bowler and wk needed

[PPS]

Originally Posted by karanraheja

If we dont give these youngsters a chance in overseas tours , how do you think improve??? If we can give a youngster like Mukund a chance in Tests , why cant the others get a chance in ODI? About Raina, i hope you saw his batting in the 2nd innings of the 1st Test, he did bat brilliantly . The short ball has been a problem for Yuvi too. Even Ganguly used to have a tough time facing short pitch deliveries.

Our team pretty much selects itself in ODI's ! Sachin,Sehwag,Gambhir,Dravid,Raina,Kohli,Dhoni & the 4 bowlers. If one of the batsman is injured then Rohit Sharma comes in. Those players would anyway be warming the benches , they are better of playing some cricket which i think they are right now for India 'A' in some country.
And regarding Raina & some other players, the problem is not the short ball its just that they have played too much odi's & 20-20's & they feel like they have to go for everything, they sometimes forget that they are playing a test match.
Forget the odi's for now , we need to do something in the next 2 tests, hope we last 5 days & manage to score 300 atleast!

[ghodlur]

Saw in the news that Zaheer Khan is out for the entire series. R. P Singh is being flown in to replace Zaks for the test.

Harbhajan & Yuvraj ruled out for ODI's, Virat Kohli and Pragyan Ojha being flown in as replacments.

Guess its going from bad to worse for the Indian team.

[normally_crazy]

Time for Zaheer to call it a day - he is being remembered more for his break downs rather than his wickets.

[Hatari]

With Zaheer out, it makes winning a test very challenging indeed.
Hope the batting comes good and we can atleast draw the next 2 tests.

[Daewood]

R.P. Singh going to replace Zaheer for the other 2 matches is good news.
He should have been in the original eleven. With his reputation as "R.P. Swing", he is a better bet than Sreesanth or Munaf, for the swinging conditions in England.

Read this hard hiting article yesterday in IE about Tendulkar, and whether he deserves a Bharat Ratna.
The truth about Sachin Tendulkar | Indian cricket Team | | The New Indian Express

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by SilentEngine

Even the Wall himself wouldn't have expected this.

I am sure it was by pure oversight that dravid had not announced his retirement from ODIs. He would have been even more shocked than you, but cheeka has managed to score a goal in the gap. As soon as he heard the news, dravid did the thing he should have done 2 years ago if not for the oversight (ageing). The dosa that he had been planning on having at MG Road will now have to wait till the entire tour is over.

@Daewood.... That is a load of crap that article is. I for one do not go by records to see if someone is a great player or not. Because he has an impressive record, why should he be hanged for it ? These are all jokers who write something to pull down his image. Next, he will be writing an editorial on sachin's 100th 100 when he gets there.

[harry10]

I always had a feeling that the english and Aussies are tremendously jealous of India and specially Tendulkar so such articles are no surprise.
For me Sachin and the Lara are the 2 greatest batsman i had seen playing in my lifetime and for that am grateful

Coming back to the series- I feel Botham and Vaughan might have to eat their words about 4-0 whitewash of India!