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Dravid->My last England series, I want win.


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MUMBAI, June 19: Rahul Dravid's big broad bat and his tendency to play straight helped him log 602 runs at 100.33 in four Tests the last time India toured England in 2002. The tour to England hasn't yet begun as India embark on a ODI tour to Ireland on Wednesday, but Dravid is already playing with the straightest of bats - at least to questions that were posed by the media at the pre-tour press conference in Mumbai on Tuesday. The straightest of hits came in the form of an admission that the 2007 England tour will be the Indian captain's last. "I can't speak for the other boys, but I'm sure I am not going to England in four or five years time. This is my last trip and I want to make it memorable by winning the series," he said with passion. Candidness was the order of the day for the Indian skipper. He was honest in saying that the Indian pace attack was inexperienced when compared to the English one. "Yes. Their attack is more experienced. But this game is not just about experience. It is about performing on the day or in a match. The experience in their attack doesn't give England the advantage straight away." England might not have the advantage of experience according to Dravid, but at least the Indian team, he feels, will benefit by having Venkatesh Prasad as bowling coach. "Venky as a bowling coach has the experience of doing well in England. (He picked up 15 wickets in 1996 in three Tests). I'm sure he will be working hard on the boys and tell them the line and length they need to bowl." Dravid also sees Zaheer Khan playing a vital role as lead bowler as he has excelled in English county cricket. "Zaheer has a major role to play while mentoring the young boys," he feels. After candidness, it was diplomacy that the Indian skipper resorted to. While he smiled, almost giggled and smirked when manager Chandu Borde was answering queries, Dravid was politically correct when asked what role would Borde play. "He has had a great amount of experience as a manager, cricketer and a selector. I'm sure the players will dip into his knowledge and experience during the course of the tour. But will the skipper and other seniors involve the 73-year old while formulating strategies or will he be a dummy as many feel. Dravid rejected those apprehensions. "I'm sure he will be an important part of the team management or whatever you may call it. What exactly will be his well-defined role, we will have to sit down work it out," he reasoned

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I think he should stop worrying whether it is last tour or not. That is not something that should be foremost on his mind. What's the big deal if it's his last tour to England? At some point in time every tour can be deemed a last tour by some player. They had similar interviews given before world cup, South Africa tour and we all know it didn't materialize. I do not want to hear any personal milestones of Indian players and promises. The reality is way different from hope. They should stop hoping and put their words in action.

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"He has had a great amount of experience as a manager' date=' cricketer and a selector. I'm sure the players will dip into his knowledge and experience during the course of the tour. " [/quote'] or "He is here.. We dont know what to do about it ! Dont ask me again about it"... Even the thought of Dravid talking about last series etc makes me shudder... Though this tour is a GOLDEN chance for one man -- Sachin Tendulkar ! If he performs , for once his trigger happy critics will keep quiet
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Is it only me or does Rahul Dravid come across more a Miss World candidate rather than a cricketing captain? I mean I am yet to ever hear him say anything that seems like it will inspire a bunch of cricket players. "This is my last trip and I want to win", and so if this was not your last trip would a loss be fine Mr. Captain? And the audacity of the journalist to state that Dravid made that statement with passion!! Frankly I would not mind if Dravid gets the boot as a captain. Great player yes but I truly wonder if he ever inspires fellow players with words/strategies etc. xxx

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Lurker ! Have you heard the term called leading by example ? that is what Rahul does.. As much as he is borin and non-controversial in public , I am sure he as tough a taskmaster you can get.. You can make all the hollywood style speeches you want. Ultimately , a captain has to perform and that is exactly what Rahul does..

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Sriram. I will have to disagree with you on that one. If you note I have suggested that Dravid is great as a batsman, by most accounts he is the best batsman India has had in atleast past 3-4 years. But his leadership skills are hard to support at times. Leading by example would have been nice if the team was made up of players that were smart enough to get inspired. As it so happens Indian team has 500 factions working inside what with SRT having his troops and so does Ganguly. What we need is a tough task master who does not hold back from whipping the boys when needed, heck even Ponting used to do that to Warne and Mcgrath at times. And seriously when was the last time a Rahul Dravid statement at the start of a series really filled with you high hopes? xxx

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Lurker ! Have you heard the term called leading by example ? that is what Rahul does.. As much as he is borin and non-controversial in public , I am sure he as tough a taskmaster you can get.. You can make all the hollywood style speeches you want. Ultimately , a captain has to perform and that is exactly what Rahul does..
Not when you are talking about Indian captains. Tendulkar averaged over 50 as captain, Ganguly averaged under 40. Who was the better captain ? Leading by example is never enough if you are captaining a team chock full of mediocres. Dravid can score one 50 after another, but that is because he is an outstanding batsman. His players can't raise their performance simply by watching him and trying to emulate him - they just aren't that good. This is where factors such a man-management and moral support come in - areas where Dravid probably doesn't score as high.
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When i said Dravid leads by example by performing , that does NOT mean that i implied that he doesnt motivate the other players of the team or newcomers. Even after the world cup fiasco , when everybody's head was rolling , only Dravid's reputation was untouched. That is the kind of respect he commands from the team. And just because Ganguly showed his emotions on the field and was visually agressive , doesnt mean he is better at motivating the team members. A non-performing captain is a team's worst nightmare !

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When i said Dravid leads by example by performing , that does NOT mean that i implied that he doesnt motivate the other players of the team or newcomers. Even after the world cup fiasco , when everybody's head was rolling , only Dravid's reputation was untouched. That is the kind of respect he commands from the team. And just because Ganguly showed his emotions on the field and was visually agressive , doesnt mean he is better at motivating the team members. A non-performing captain is a team's worst nightmare !
Oh please. Reputation untouched ? IND were knocked out of the WC in the first round; the first group stage elimination in 17 years. His reputation was in tatters, as was the rest fo the team's. The reason why he retained his job was because there was no successor in sight. Dravid is an average captain, no matter what you may say about his leading by example. I began losing faith in him after his stupefying decision to bowl first against ENG on a dead Mumbai pitch last year. He continued in the same vein in WI, giving away the advantage by batting first on seaming pitch in the first test @ Antigua (luckily that match was a draw). Not good enough.
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Oh please. Reputation untouched ? IND were knocked out of the WC in the first round; the first group stage elimination in 17 years. His reputation was in tatters, as was the rest fo the team's. The reason why he retained his job was because there was no successor in sight. Dravid is an average captain, no matter what you may say about his leading by example. I began losing faith in him after his stupefying decision to bowl first against ENG on a dead Mumbai pitch last year. He continued in the same vein in WI, giving away the advantage by batting first on seaming pitch in the first test @ Antigua (luckily that match was a draw). Not good enough.
I still maintain that Dravid was probably the only player who did not receive any flak for the cup fiasco. And I am not able to say how good or how bad a captain Rahul is, but w.r.t to your comments on his decision to bat or field first in those two matches , its easy to comment on hindsight , isnt it ? And if me/you/other members of this board know their cricket to pass judgements on rahul's decisions on the tosses , then i dare say , the captain proabably knows his cricket too. He probably had a plan , i guess it didnt work.
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That just strengthens my point. If he really planned to make such foolish decisions' date= then there we have even more evidence to indicate how average his captaincy skills are...
Steve Waugh followed on in the Kolkata test and all of us know what happened after that. Saurav Ganguly won the toss and chose to field in the 2003 world cup final and all of us know what happened after that. In the second test of the ashes 2005, Ponting won the toss and put england in and we all know what happend that ? So , are these guys shitty captains too ?
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Example 1. Waugh's decision was correct. Any other captain would've enforced the follow on after leading by 270 odd. 2. Not only in hindsight was this a poor/negative decision. Why would you give the #1 team in the world first use of the wicket unless you had an outstanding pace attack? Or unless it was very overcast or the wicket was a greentop which we just don't see in a series final. At the time I was amazed. Happy .... but amazed. 3. Ponting made a mistake. It wasn't a major or drastic one as England won by a whisker but, once McGrath was out, it would've been a better decision to bat first. He was possibly a touch over confident after winning the first Test so well.

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If India don't win a test on this tour (and if the skipper has another horrific series like he did in SA), Dravid should step down. More pressure on him than anyone else.
Winning a test means nothing. It is all about the series. Draw it 0-0 and it's better than losing 1-2. I am willing to bet that we will lose the test series.
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and if the skipper has another horrific series like he did in SA
Predator, you have been harping on and on about this. Did you even watch the series. Dravid got 2(or was it 3) terrible umpiring decisions. Besides this series in which he was at the wrong side of umpiring decisions you would be hard pressed to find anything to suggest that his batting is being affected by captaincy. I still stand by my earlier judgement that he is the right man to lead India.
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