Cracks in "The Wall".

[Ram]

Dravid worries me hugely. He seems to have lost that trick to make a huge personal score. Hangs around , makes decent runs and against the run of play , gets out , which is so uncharacteristic from him. Looks like there is too much going on in the mind of Indian captain , leading to a lapse of concentration and hence his dismissal. Hopefully he gets his mojo back soon , for India's sake atleast.

[kabira]

he had exactly similar issues in 98 down under tour..hanged around for a while and got out tamely..I think its due to too much ODI cricket and/or lack of time spending/analyzing his own batting... He is not sure of his off stump..so uncharacteristic of him

[Dhondy]

It's very worrying, Sriram, this dearth of long innings, and Dravid's new found inability is the most worrying of all. What are the odds of Tendulkar going in his 60s, 70s or 80s tomorrow? Very high, I'd say. These guys are putting so much pressure on themselves, cricket has become a chore for them. Somebody pointed out how the current openers have done a lot better than Sehwag would have. Maybe. But the reason the latter stands out was because of his ability to put mammoth knocks on the board. For a year in 2003-4, we rode on the back of similar knocks. Dravid's 233 at Adelaide, Laxman's 148 in the same match, Ganguly's 144 at Brisbane, Sehwag's 195 at the MCG, 309 at Multan, Dravid going on to make 270 at Rawalpindi. THose knocks epitomized India's resurgence as a genuine cricketing power. The current doubt ridden ageing stars, and the fairly good up and coming young ones with their little cameos, can only look back wistfully at those days of plenty.

[Guest BossBhai]

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[Ram]

Well said Doc. Matches are won on big hundreds , not attractive 60's and 60's . We might yet still get away without a huge score from a batsman , but if we are to be consistently successful in test cricket ,we need those days of glory to come back. And yes , you could literally feel the pressure these senior batsman are under , when they bat. Its almost as if they are desperate to succeed and therefore letting the fear of failure to get to them . Sooner or later , we needed to blood in young and unscathed minds. Looks like the scars of the past are here to stay in the memories of the Big 4. And i too wonder why you had left out Sachin's 241 from the list big scored made by Indians.

[kumble_rocks]

Doc any particular reasons for ommiting 241+60 Not out ' date=' 194 Not out , 55 from that list which came during the same time frame (2004)[/quote'] 241 was a scratchy innings at best . Even he himself admitted that Laxman outplayed him at the other end.

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[Shehezaada]

i don't think so...Dravid just needs to settle down and he'll be fine. Get past 50 and he'll go on to make 100...he's techinically fine!

[talksport]

Dravid played superbly till he got out today....

[CC1981]

For fux sake- get Yuvraj or Laxman (my preference) in at #3 and shunt Dravid down to #5/#6 to rediscover his form already. Laxman is a more than capable #3 and right now, it'd help Dravid no end to take some pressure off of him and bat at #5/#6.

[Ram]

For fux sake- get Yuvraj or Laxman (my preference) in at #3 and shunt Dravid down to #5/#6 to rediscover his form already. Laxman is a more than capable #3 and right now, it'd help Dravid no end to take some pressure off of him and bat at #5/#6.

You are making a mistake here CC. Rahul is clearly not of form. He is middling the ball well , keeping the good ones out and all. Just that , every now and then , he has this lapse of concentration and gets out. Obviously , there is too much going through his mind right now. He needs to clear up everything

[CC1981]

Just that , every now and then , he has this lapse of concentration and gets out. Obviously , there is too much going through his mind right now. He needs to clear up everything

Yes ! And comming in at #5/#6 down the order would give him a bit more of a breathing room to 'clear it up'- right now, his problem is mental, let him shift down the order and come in at a stage where the match is more developed and he is more sure of what is required of him for that situation and let the rest take a bit of responsibility for a change. I am not suggesting his move to be permanent but last time Dravid started losing form & we shunted him down the order, it worked out pretty good.

[King]

On the contrary Rahul looked in great touch yesterday. The ball was still doing fair bit and he made batting look easy albeit batting a little slow. I think runs will continue to flow from his bat. If I'm England I'd be worried as he hasn't a big inning recently and there's one big one coming up.

[chanakya]

Captaining is not an easy job. He has to concentrate the whole day in the field and cannot rest even when the openers are batting because he has to come in next. No wonder he has lapses of concentration. It is not easy being the wall.

[Chandan]

It's very worrying, Sriram, this dearth of long innings, and Dravid's new found inability is the most worrying of all. What are the odds of Tendulkar going in his 60s, 70s or 80s tomorrow? Very high, I'd say. These guys are putting so much pressure on themselves, cricket has become a chore for them. Somebody pointed out how the current openers have done a lot better than Sehwag would have. Maybe. But the reason the latter stands out was because of his ability to put mammoth knocks on the board. For a year in 2003-4, we rode on the back of similar knocks. Dravid's 233 at Adelaide, Laxman's 148 in the same match, Ganguly's 144 at Brisbane, Sehwag's 195 at the MCG, 309 at Multan, Dravid going on to make 270 at Rawalpindi. THose knocks epitomized India's resurgence as a genuine cricketing power. The current doubt ridden ageing stars, and the fairly good up and coming young ones with their little cameos, can only look back wistfully at those days of plenty.

Dhondy, If you remember, all those scores were erected on pitches as flat as a pancake and bowling attack not being that great. When did our batsmen score big on a lively track? 2002, Headingley comes the closest imo. Why just our batsmen, name any batsman who kept on erecting such high scores on lively tracks?

[MundaPakistani]

Dhondy, If you remember, all those scores were erected on pitches as flat as a pancake and bowling attack not being that great. When did our batsmen score big on a lively track? 2002, Headingley comes the closest imo. Why just our batsmen, name any batsman who kept on erecting such high scores on lively tracks?

Dravid's innings was great. The bowling attack of Shoaib, M Sami(who was bowling quite well at the time) and Kaneria had won PAK the series against SA and also the one in NZ plus the Rawalpindi pitch wasn't the easiest for batting so for R Dravid to come out and make 270 in the decider was a great performance.

[King Tendulkar]

MM what a ridiculous thread. Couple of dodgy matches now people are after Dravid. I give up! First Sachin now Dravid. Lynch mobs are evreywhere

[CC1981]

Couple of dodgy matches now people are after Dravid. I give up! First Sachin now Dravid. Lynch mobs are evreywhere

In last 15 tests, Tendulkar : 24 innings, 2 not outs, 841 runs @ 38.22, 3x100, 2x50 Dravid : 28 innings, 3 not outs, 1246 runs @ 49.84, 3x100, 8x50 PS: Most of Tendy's runs are vs Bangladesh- take them out and he has a rather pathetic (and retire-worthy) 587 @ 29.35 with 1 century and 2 fifties in 21 innings. That is most definitely a patch that requires questioning Tendulkar's continued presence in the middle order. PPS: Dravid's record minus Bangladesh is still very credible : 1054 @ 47.90 with 2 centuries and 7 fifties. But it is still a noticeable decline for Dravid that is worthy of alarm bells going off about Dravid's decline.

[King Tendulkar]

PPS: Dravid's record minus Bangladesh is still very credible : 1054 @ 47.90 with 2 centuries and 7 fifties. But it is still a noticeable decline for Dravid that is worthy of alarm bells going off about Dravid's decline.

:hysterical:you have just proved he is not in decline but used that evidence to try and show he is! You feeling ok CC?

[CC1981]

:hysterical:you have just proved he is not in decline but used that evidence to try and show he is! You feeling ok CC?

When a batsman with a career average of 57+ is averaging 49-ish for the past 15-20 matches, he is most definitely out of form and if this batsman happens to be in his 11th year of international cricket & on the wrong side of the 30s, question about his decline is a legitimate one. Dravid hasn't declined as horribly as Tendulkar has ( who is nowadays not even in the top 20 batsmen's list) but his decline is noticeable.