A Gift to all Rahul Dravid Haters

[mhr123]

LOL ... he was the best finisher India ever had !!! See how good Dhoni is playing now ... well Dravid was doing that for India most of his career. If Dhoni can keep up this form for the next 5 or 6 years, only then will he be regarded as our best ever finisher. I have seen Dravid get us out of trouble in ODIs time and time again,and has consistently been overlooked by ignorant fans who get attracted by flashy, explosive knocks (contrary to popular belief he could certainly up the scoring rate when he wanted). Check back over his career, and you'll see that he was an integral cog in the ODI team. I think history will show Dravid is probably the most unselfish cricketer in the games history. * India needed him to keep wickets in ODIs, so he kept wickets in ODIs * India needed him to open in ODIs, so he opened in ODIs * He was consistently India's finisher in ODIs despite the fact that he was never given a set position in ODIs, and constantly had to pick up the pieces of batting collapses. * He relinquished the captaincy, when his form dipped (which opened the option for him to be dropped, which he later was). * In Tests, India needed him to open the batting (to accomodate Yuvraj) and he did. How many other players in the game do you know would do all this? Dravid ... the most UNSELFISH player in the games history.

Atleast hari will keep his mouth shut for a while

[fineleg]

Atleast hari will keep his mouth shut for a while

No such hopez :D

[Guest HariSampath]

^....I shall remain as quiet as Dravid while batting :D

[Guest HariSampath]

Even the Bangalore cricket fans, when being interviewed on IBN and NDTV , seemed totally lost and disappointed, and nearly all of them were only talking about how Mallaya should give chances to U-22 players and local talent...no mention of Dravid.....AND Kumble

[Guest HariSampath]

The facts of the matter are BCCI "protected" Sachin, Dravid, Ganguly , Sehwag and Yuvraj from being auctioned. Of these, everyone knows that on cricketing skills Only Tendulkar, Yuvraj and Sehwag would have been bid for and bought, and the other two Dravid and Ganguly would not have been purchased by any team if they had the choice. Given the choice even NOW, will Bangalore prefer Dravid for 1 million bucks or Gilly at 700,000 if the issue is to win a T20 match ? Or is Dravid at a million a better deal than Herschelle Gibbs or Graeme Smith ? If the idea is to win T20 games, can Rahul Dravid be as good a bet as Virender Sehwag at 800,000 ? This is absolute nonsense. Ganguly at a million better than Yuvraj at same amount for T20 ? Ganguly can give more value to a T20 match than Rohit Sharma ( 750k) or Irfan Pathan ( 900k) ? This is total rubbish. If Dravid and Ganguly had actually competed in the open market, they both would have been hugely embarrassed by either a "not sold" or "picked up at base price or lesser than reserve price", which would have serious issues with BCCI sponsors as well as the sponsors of these two. To hype these 2 up for enabling them to be seen on TV in T20 games for 6 weeks is obviously important to their sponsors who have shelled out endorsement contracts only to find these two have been dropped from ODIs . That is the only reason BCCI has "protected" these two from getting their cricket value in T20 being exposed publicly in a market scenario.

[manoj_admlab]

LOL ... he was the best finisher India ever had !!! See how good Dhoni is playing now ... well Dravid was doing that for India most of his career. If Dhoni can keep up this form for the next 5 or 6 years, only then will he be regarded as our best ever finisher. I have seen Dravid get us out of trouble in ODIs time and time again,and has consistently been overlooked by ignorant fans who get attracted by flashy, explosive knocks (contrary to popular belief he could certainly up the scoring rate when he wanted). Check back over his career, and you'll see that he was an integral cog in the ODI team. I think history will show Dravid is probably the most unselfish cricketer in the games history. * India needed him to keep wickets in ODIs, so he kept wickets in ODIs * India needed him to open in ODIs, so he opened in ODIs * He was consistently India's finisher in ODIs despite the fact that he was never given a set position in ODIs, and constantly had to pick up the pieces of batting collapses. * He relinquished the captaincy, when his form dipped (which opened the option for him to be dropped, which he later was). * In Tests, India needed him to open the batting (to accomodate Yuvraj) and he did. How many other players in the game do you know would do all this? Dravid ... the most UNSELFISH player in the games history.

:two_thumbs_up::two_thumbs_up::two_thumbs_up:

[f.b.m]

Ganguly at a million better than Yuvraj at same amount for T20 ? Ganguly can give more value to a T20 match than Rohit Sharma ( 750k) or Irfan Pathan ( 900k) ? This is total rubbish. If Dravid and Ganguly had actually competed in the open market, they both would have been hugely embarrassed by either a "not sold" or "picked up at base price or lesser than reserve price", which would have serious issues with BCCI sponsors as well as the sponsors of these two. To hype these 2 up for enabling them to be seen on TV in T20 games for 6 weeks is obviously important to their sponsors who have shelled out endorsement contracts only to find these two have been dropped from ODIs . That is the only reason BCCI has "protected" these two from getting their cricket value in T20 being exposed publicly in a market scenario.

Um, no. They would have sold for a million anyway because of their brand value.

3. Why should he stick on to his "Icon status" and draw 1 million bucks? does he think he is worth 1 million bucks in T20 ( like Dhoni, Symonds etc), why could he not be like VVS and let go of status so that his team could bid for players ?

Playing for Banglore isnt the same thing as playing for India. I repeat: Playing for Banglore isnt the same thing as playing for India. One is being played for money and the other for national pride, etc. Its a damn business contract and not some matter of representing your country. Einverstanden?

[mhr123]

Hari Bhai ur beating around the bushes .... earlier u never regarded RD even as an average batsman in ODI or test , This is what ur posts tell me.When we gave u the stats now u have shifted to other gear,u even don't have stats to disprove RD's ability. Still ur views hardly matters... people sitting on hot seat knows a couple of things more than u do.

[Sachinism]

good stats will go through properly afterwards

[Kartikey]

Rahul Dravid is the real God with all due respect to Sachin. The most unselfish cricketer in the world, he's a team man. One of 3 great Indian batsmen along with Sunny and Sachin.

[Gambit]

This case for selfish and unselfish can be easily made for any cricketer. To play the devil's advocate, I can say that Dravid was not being unselfish when he was asked to keep. In fact, without that added role, he might have been booted out of the team because he didn't fit into SCG/JW's plans. So an element of self interest was there. He gave up captaincy to concentrate on his batting leaving the team in the lurch. Again self interest. Regarding opening in OZ, Kumble after day 1 of the MCG test that RD was going to open because he didn't have a choice almost alluding that had he said no, he would have been dropped. Again self interest because he didn't want to be out of the team. There are no outright saints or devils in cricket like in most other professions. Everyone wants to do well for their team but also, for themselves. Dravid is as selfish or unselfish as any other cricketer.

[Gambit]

If you really want unselfish, look no further than Leander. He played Davis Cup matches in the 90s for free i.e. he charged no money for representing India.

[Chandan]

The facts of the matter are BCCI "protected" Sachin' date=' Dravid, Ganguly , Sehwag and Yuvraj from being auctioned. Of these, everyone knows that [b']on cricketing skills Only Tendulkar, Yuvraj and Sehwag would have been bid for and bought, and the other two Dravid and Ganguly would not have been purchased by any team if they had the choice. Given the choice even NOW, will Bangalore prefer Dravid for 1 million bucks or Gilly at 700,000 if the issue is to win a T20 match ? Or is Dravid at a million a better deal than Herschelle Gibbs or Graeme Smith ? If the idea is to win T20 games, can Rahul Dravid be as good a bet as Virender Sehwag at 800,000 ? This is absolute nonsense. Ganguly at a million better than Yuvraj at same amount for T20 ? Ganguly can give more value to a T20 match than Rohit Sharma ( 750k) or Irfan Pathan ( 900k) ? This is total rubbish. If Dravid and Ganguly had actually competed in the open market, they both would have been hugely embarrassed by either a "not sold" or "picked up at base price or lesser than reserve price", which would have serious issues with BCCI sponsors as well as the sponsors of these two. To hype these 2 up for enabling them to be seen on TV in T20 games for 6 weeks is obviously important to their sponsors who have shelled out endorsement contracts only to find these two have been dropped from ODIs . That is the only reason BCCI has "protected" these two from getting their cricket value in T20 being exposed publicly in a market scenario.

And this tells me that you have no idea about IPL. IPL is not based just on cricketing skills but how markettable the stars are, which franchise will benefit the most with the association of a particular player, who would pull the maximum crowd for their city so that franchise could advertise! If Mallya thought that Dravid was perfect for him, why do you have a heart ache? And SRK on record said that even if Ganguly was not the iconic player of Kolkata, he'd have wanted him as his captain. Maybe Red Chillies think that Ganguly's personality would suit their images and plans perfectly. If you still have no idea, do read the thread "business model of IPL franchise" started by me. You might get some idea.

[The Outsider]

To play the devil's advocate, I can say that Dravid was not being unselfish when he was asked to keep. In fact, without that added role, he might have been booted out of the team because he didn't fit into SCG/JW's plans. So an element of self interest was there.

That is a myth. I had showed a long time back that Dravid was averaging 40+ at a SR close to 75 for 2-3 years prior to becoming a wicketkeeper. How can such a batsman's place be under threat?

Regarding opening in OZ, Kumble after day 1 of the MCG test that RD was going to open because he didn't have a choice almost alluding that had he said no, he would have been dropped.

That was a tongue in cheek remark and you know it. Whether Dravid is selfish or not, only he knows in the end but he has been a superb cricketer for many years now and fabricating stuff like he would have been dropped if he had not taken up wicket keeping doesn't do him justice.

[mhr123]

This case for selfish and unselfish can be easily made for any cricketer. To play the devil's advocate, I can say that Dravid was not being unselfish when he was asked to keep. In fact, without that added role, he might have been booted out of the team because he didn't fit into SCG/JW's plans. So an element of self interest was there. He gave up captaincy to concentrate on his batting leaving the team in the lurch. Again self interest. Regarding opening in OZ, Kumble after day 1 of the MCG test that RD was going to open because he didn't have a choice almost alluding that had he said no, he would have been dropped. Again self interest because he didn't want to be out of the team. There are no outright saints or devils in cricket like in most other professions. Everyone wants to do well for their team but also, for themselves. Dravid is as selfish or unselfish as any other cricketer.

A person with 2 faces .. it depends on how u see it.For us Bhagat singh was a Freedom fighter for Britisher's he was a Terrorist. We see it a unselfish act and mind u in those days (Wc99 and so on) he was scoring heavily in ODI's and stood no chances of being dropped.

[The Outsider]

I think I also remember the origins of that myth - it was during the last days of Ganguly's captaincy when Ganguly was completely out of his depth that people started this nonsense that Ganguly saved Dravid's a$$ by giving him to option to keep wickets to defend their hero. I had not only brought up those numbers of a 40+ average and SR close to 75, but given the onus on those making the claim to find me a single article from the time when Dravid became keeper from a creditable journalistic source where such notions were talked about. The offer still stands. Fact is Dravid was our best middle order batsman when he became wicketkeeper.

[Gambit]

That is a myth. I had showed a long time back that Dravid was averaging 40+ at a SR close to 75 for 2-3 years prior to becoming a wicketkeeper. How can such a batsman's place be under threat?

Was his SR really close to 75 around 2002? I find that very very hard to believe. In fact, I don't think that ever happened. I remember his S/R being lower than 70 over 30 games between 2000 and 2002.

That was a tongue in cheek remark and you know it. Whether Dravid is selfish or not, only he knows in the end but he has been a superb cricketer for many years now and fabricating stuff like he would have been dropped if he had not taken up wicket keeping doesn't do him justice.

It's not about fabrication but about speculation. No one knows for certain. Only Dravid and the team management do. But my understanding of the situation and based on a few articles I read back then is that Dravid's ODI career was resuscitated after becoming a W/K batsman and that had he not kept, he might have gotten the chop.

A person with 2 faces .. it depends on how u see it.For us Bhagat singh was a Freedom fighter for Britisher's he was a Terrorist. We see it a unselfish act and mind u in those days (Wc99 and so on) he was scoring heavily in ODI's and stood no chances of being dropped.

Exactly. That was the point of my post. You can make a case for any cricketer being selfish or unselfish.

[Gambit]

Also, was Dravid selfish in not relinquishing captaincy after the WC debacle? Had Ganguly been the captain and led us to a first round exit and not been removed by the BCCI, people would have certainly said he was being selfish by still sitting in the captain's chair.

[The Outsider]

Was his SR really close to 75 around 2002? I find that very very hard to believe. In fact, I don't think that ever happened. I remember his S/R being lower than 70 over 30 games between 2000 and 2002.

I can do the exercise again if you want, but I remember doing it for a good 50 matches before he became keeper and he was averaging 40+ and striking at 70+. How can such a batman's place be under threat?

It's not about fabrication but about speculation. No one knows for certain. Only Dravid and the team management do. But my understanding of the situation and based on a few articles I read back then is that Dravid's ODI career was resuscitated after becoming a W/K batsman and that had he not kept, he might have gotten the chop.

I would be interested in reading articles from that time ie. summer of 2002 where Dravid's spot was thought to be under the scanner if he did not take up wicket keeping.

[mhr123]

Was his SR really close to 75 around 2002? I find that very very hard to believe. In fact, I don't think that ever happened. I remember his S/R being lower than 70 over 30 games between 2000 and 2002. It's not about fabrication but about speculation. No one knows for certain. Only Dravid and the team management do. But my understanding of the situation and based on a few articles I read back then is that Dravid's ODI career was resuscitated after becoming a W/K batsman and that had he not kept, he might have gotten the chop. Exactly. That was the point of my post. You can make a case for any cricketer being selfish or unselfish.

ICC World Cup 1999 Batting - Most Runs R Dravid Total runs 461 Highest 145 Avg 65.85 Sr 85.52 1999-2002 Matches 126 inngs 117 Runs 4394 highest 153 Avg 43.07 Sr 71.84 http://stats.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/player/28114.html?class=2;spanmax1=31+dec+2002;spanmin1=01+jan+1999;spanval1=span;template=results;type=batting