Dravids inclusion is an admission of a shortcoming

Rahul Dravid must be either perplexed or amused at seeing his name in the list of probables for the Champions Trophy. Ordinarily you shouldnt read too much into a list of thirty...

Rahul Dravid must be either perplexed or amused at seeing his name in the list of probables for the Champions Trophy. Ordinarily you shouldnt read too much into a list of thirty because it is like a census,or to use a more contemporary political term,inclusive. But when you recall a player of extraordinary pedigree there has to be a reason,and hopefully a very good one.

So either the selectors have now found in him something they didnt know,unlikely,or they have found something in the others that they didnt want to see. More likely. It might be the short pitched ball,it might be temperament,it might be discipline,it doesnt matter because Dravid scores very high on all of those anyway. But by reaching out to him,they have effectively reduced their job to picking fourteen players for the Champions Trophy. You dont recall a master chef as a stand-by to chop coriander,or a best-selling artist to sing in a chorus. Clearly he has been picked because there is a need,a hole,somewhere that needs to be plugged.

And so this is an admission of a shortcoming. Nothing wrong there; experiments fail,balloons burst,promised skills dont materialise. But it has many implications for a side that has won virtually everything in 50 overs cricket in the last eighteen months. Assuming that Sachin Tendulkar returns for the Champions Trophy and that Sehwag is fit,this move will leave three players insecure. Either Dravid will take Gambhirs slot at number three,or Rainas at number five or six (which is where he would have migrated after the return of Tendulkar and Sehwag). And it means that Rohit Sharma is looking over his shoulder at two people; or maybe more correctly,ahead of him at two people.

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Lets try and put ourselves in Suresh Rainas place. After 65 games he averages 35. In the last two years that goes up to 45 from 29 games. Interestingly,apart from five games in New Zealand,the others have been played on the sub-continent. In four innings in New Zealand he scored 125 with two not outs,which leaves little to complain about. So the only reason he could be out in the wait and see rack is the feeling that he cannot handle short-pitched bowling.

There is another way to look at it though. There are two months between now and the Champions Trophy and there is a full fledged National Cricket Academy,one of whose objectives is to look at corrective measures for established players. Either Raina,and Rohit Sharma for that matter,could spend four weeks there,or a week,then the A tournament in Australia (where there would have been enough opportunity to test them against short pitched bowling) and then back to the academy.

The question the selectors would therefore have asked themselves is: do we react quickly to what we believe and have seen a bit of (the susceptibility to short pitched bowling),or do we give the young men an extended run and back them to solve problems like these which are part of a cricketers development anyway? It might be worth considering the positives,which is that Raina and Sharma,and indeed Ravindra Jadeja,emerge from the Champions Trophy having conquered their weakness and become significantly better players as a result. And in any case,we are talking of playing a few overs,not a whole day against terrifying fast bowlers whose numbers are dwindling anyway!

Meanwhile,consider this delicious,and entirely possible,thought. Rahul Dravid walks out on a genuinely sporting pitch at the Wanderers in late September and bats like we have always known him to; peels back the years,months actually,and has a great tournament. What then? Do you pick him against Australia for the home series of one-day games? And if he is indeed going to play in South Africa,shouldnt he play the one-day games in Sri Lanka next month? As usual,many answers are sought,it will be interesting to see what shape this kaleidoscope throws up!

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But to return to the topic we started off with; of a selection of 30 being inclusive. The time to send messages of regret is when the final 15 are picked,not now; which is why I am disappointed that there is no room for Irfan Pathan or Piyush Chawla,especially the former. If indeed the early-season wickets support the quicker bowlers,and you must play five bowlers with 20 overs of power play,you might want to play four. No one in the top order bowls seam up and none of the bowlers can bat at number seven. Maybe we have been hasty.