A 'walking wicket' is how Dravid and Collingwood have been described of late.
Collingwood walked into what might have been his last Test innings, and rescued a crumbling England in the company of Kevin 'Ego (isn't it refreshing to have Andre back?)' Pietersen.
The noise for Dravid's head is not that loud, but the irritation among the fans was clear. Ok, he hit a 90 there and a hundred here, but for a team challenging the top Test team, such a confused batsman at number 3 was a weight on the shoulders.
The subtext that King Cricket talks about, referring to Collingwood's repeated portrayal as a gritty, doughty one, is equally applicable to Dravid - who like Collingwood has broken the mould (or "the Wall") from time to time.
Dravid made some runs today, finally looking comfy against Mendis and Murali. His innings was pretty much a press release that he will only go kicking and screaming into retirement. Which is certainly good for Indian cricket, because the incumbent will have to keep doing well domestically and in ODIs. Gambhir is proof.
Rohit can wait. Owais must wait.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
- All Padded Up
- Are you a Left arm Chinaman?
- BCC!
- Beer and Sport
- Buzzin Cricket
- Christopher David speaks
- Cricket = Action = Art
- Cricket Fizz in the Scorpicity
- Cricket with Balls
- Dailycric
- Eye on Cricket
- Fly-Slip
- Gone with the Windies
- History of Cricket
- Homer's two paisa worth
- King Cricket
- Naked Cricket
- Ottayan writes in the name of cricket
- Republique Cricket
- Smart Cricket Talk
- Some simple but straight points
- The Cricket Watcher's Journal
- Third Umpire
- Well Pitched
Cricinfo Latest Photos
5 comments:
when he walked into middle didnot looked like dravid at all...b=for better part of his innngs ball kept hitting his pads...numurous close calls...bt to give it to him...he kept the focus for larger goal...
and just when he seemed to be getting into grove played uncharacteristic shot...no wonder he was livid with himself...a long innings here would have certainly eased pressure a bit...and put india into commanding position...
John,
I am with Pan. Dravid was scratchy and was playing too many shots across the line.
I think his wagon wheel will show you that he was in his own way hitting his way into form.
if performance is the only criterion for the inclusion in the national squad, then with all probability, Sachin, Dravid, Ganguly will be dropped very soon. But whether they should stop playing tests or ODIs is altogether a debatable issue, as barring Sachin, both Dravid and Ganguly are making a comeback on merit, every time they are dropped.
And it is contrary to the spirit of sports to assume that a sportsman, who is known for its indomitable will, will accept defeat all too easily and retire.
So they should be dropped everytime they fail and be included if their performance fit to the selection criterion.
Barring such illustrious players only because they are much older than the rest of the lot is certainly not good.
A player who performs has every right to be in the reckoning.
Pan and Ottayan,
Clearly Dravid is not back in form, but I think we can expect a crescendo some time soon.
Welcome Bisht. I don't see anything wrong in what you're saying. My only concern is that Rohit Sharma must be part of a batting lineup containing 3 greats, and should not be blooded after the horse has bolted.
Agreed on Rohit Sharma and Dravid. As for the clamor for Dravid's head, you should visit SP and Ottayan's blog more often :)
Though I'm not too much of a Collingwood fan, I must say I was surprized to see a century from him. He's saved himself for a couple of matches now.
Btw, nice blog you have there. Adding you to my blogroll.
Post a Comment