The Hindu : Sport : Sanjay Jagdale sticks up for Dravid

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Tuesday, Oct 16, 2007
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Sport

Sanjay Jagdale sticks up for Dravid

S. Dinakar

‘He is a great player and all great players have gone through bad patches’

— PHOTO: AFP

TESTING TIMES: Rahul Dravid has scored only 51 runs from his five innings this series, but Sanjay Jagdale is sure that the former India skipper will be among the runs soon.

Nagpur: These are hard days for Rahul Dravid. Runs are drying up for the former Indian captain in limited-overs cricket. Predictably, he is under intense media scrutiny.

Dravid also has those who believe in his ability. Among them is National selector Sanjay Jagdale.

“He is a great player and all great players — from Brian Lara to Sachin Tendulkar — have gone through patches like this. You do not drop a cricketer like him on the basis of a few innings. He will surely be back among the runs,” Mr. Jagdale told The Hindu on Monday.

The selector known for his pragmatism, Jagdale came in for much praise in former Indian coach John Wright’s book Indian Summers. He remembers Dravid’s contributions stretching back to the ICC Champions Trophy in India last year.

“He has been consistent in limited-overs cricket,” says Jagdale.

He has a point. Dravid averaged 35.00 in the ICC Champions Trophy, 40.50 in the ODI series in South Africa, 70.33 when the West Indies toured the country, 35.50 against Sri Lanka in India, 40.50 in the World Cup, 37.33 in the Future Cup series against South Africa in Belfast, and 37.16 in the seven-match ODI series in England.

Considering that he has only occasionally batted in the top order during this period, these are very creditable figures in ODI cricket.

He, arguably, has been the most consistent Indian batsmen in this phase.

A laughable idea

A few failures in a home series — Dravid has 51 runs in five innings against Australia — and speculations abound about Dravid’s future in the ODIs.

Jagdale laughs: “It was only a couple of months ago that he made a match-winning 90-odd in just around 70 balls against England in Bristol. It was one of the finest one-day innings I have seen. How can he become a bad player in a matter of days?”

During the period mentioned above, Dravid scripted several innings that underlined his spirit.

This included a battling 60 in the ODI at Newlands where he braved searing pain from a broken finger, and an assiduously-built 74 on a seaming track against the South Africans in Belfast.

India has a crucial triangular ODI series in Australia this season on pitches which are likely to offer pace, seam movement and bounce.

Here, scores between 220 and 250 could be match-winning ones. India would require Dravid’s technical expertise and the ability to take sting out of the attack.

Jagdale says, “I am against drastic changes made on the emotion of the moment. A side should be built gradually with the seniors in the frame. You cannot throw in all the youngsters against sides like Pakistan and Australia.

As far as I am concerned, Dravid should be in the side for the ODI series against Pakistan.” Retaining the world conquering Twenty20 team for the ODIs is a popular idea at the moment and there is much talk about the seniors and the juniors.

Says Jagdale: “I do not know where these theories originate from. When we sit for a selection meeting, we only look at the merits of a player. We do not look at this senior-junior business. How can you overlook somebody like Sachin Tendulkar or Sourav Ganguly and Dravid when they still have a lot more to offer?

“Twenty20 is a completely different form of the game. Let us keep it separate. ODI cricket is different. We should not confuse things.”

But then, this has exactly been the case here.

Dravid’s Test form was lacklustre in South Africa and England but some have mixed that up with his ODI returns.

Mr. Jagdale cannot spot any technical chinks in Dravid’s game. “This game is all about confidence. Dravid has been there before and I am sure he will be back,” he affirms.

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