Last week, several former England players called for the return of Ramprakash to the English side after they lost inside two and a half days. And now if media is to be believed, Rahul will find a place in the 15 man squad for the triangular series in Sri Lanka. And if he performs well, he shall surely be considered for the Champions Trophy.
I have the highest regard for Rahul Dravid and I greatly respect his contribution to Indian Cricket. I was really happy for him and Anil Kumble after the two performed brilliantly in the IPL. Royal Challengers owner Vijay Mallaya had squarely blamed Dravid for last years defeat. But the two giants of Indian Cricket proved their mettle and that they could perform and adapt in any format.
On the otherhand, several youngsters who were glorified by our media (who neither knowledge nor respect for the game), like Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja struggled against the rising ball in the T20 World Cup, thus exposing their faulty techniques. Infact during the entire IPL, the senior and more experienced campaigners proved the importance of correct technique.
Despite being a big fan of Dravid, I still think that it is not a correct move to bring him back. I agree that he is no Ganguly who was a liability on the field. And he was successful in the IPL in South Africa, the venue for the Champions Trophy in October. And he has his own style of playing which has been quite successful and the 10000+ runs he has scored in ODI's is a proof of the same. But the main reason for him being dropped 2 years ago was poor form and he was replaced by younger and more aggressive batsman. The likes of Raina and Sharma are good under home conditions, but not good enough in alien conditions.
However, it must not be forgotten that this is an important juncture as we are only two years away from the World Cup. After the disastrous performance of 2007 World Cup, India would like to put a much improved show and hopefully win in infront of the home fans. For the 2011 World Cup, Sachin Tendulkar (touchwood, barring any injury) would be there. Bring Dravid in too would mean two players above 38, something that selectors would not be doing. Moreover, since the World Cup is in the sub-continent Dravid technique won't be required that much. Therefore, I see this as a stopgap arrangement only meant for the Champions Trophy in South Africa.
And this is precisely why I don't agree with his comback because this is the time to groom youngsters. Let them play in a big tournament so that they would be ready to play in big tournaments by 2011. Let the great Dravid concentrate on Tests. Even Sachin is playing selective ODI tournaments. Unfortunately, India does not plays any more Test matches this year. I wonder how can Sachin achieve the target of 15000 runs set for him by Gavaskar.
As far as the Champions Trophy goes India shall sorely miss Zaheer. Sehwag would be needed as India struggled at the top without him in T20 World Cup. I hope selectors make right choices by looking at the long run rather than at short one.
