Great to have Sourav back: Dravid

[DesiChap]

India skipper Rahul Dravid?s stint since taking over in 2005 has not just been about inspiring his team with characteristic batting performances, but also about seeing his side through tumultuous times of late. Along with coach Greg Chappell, Dravid has embarked upon screening numerous individuals who will lead the charge for Team India in the future. In an exclusive interview with CNN-IBN?s Sports Editor Gaurav Kalra, Dravid opens up on a range of issues including team tactics for the upcoming World Cup, his own role as a batsman and the miracle of Sourav Ganguly?s comeback in the national team. Gaurav Kalra: Just a few days to go before India play their first game in the World Cup, and the man who would be leading that charge, Rahul Dravid, joins us. Thank you for joining us here. Rahul Dravid: Thank you, it?s a pleasure. Gaurav Kalra: Let me begin by asking you, not a lot of people will be able to claim this as at the end of their career, but captaining a team to a World Cup. That in itself has got to mean a lot to you. Rahul Dravid: I don?t know. I mean, I don?t see it as anything very different to playing a World Cup. I have never seen the captaincy as something special, or something out of the ordinary. I think playing in a World Cup is special and being part of a World Cup team is something that you take pride of. Being a captain in some ways is just an additional responsibility. I just look at it that way and something that I hope to enjoy and I hope to try and do my best. Gaurav Kalra: A typically modest Rahul. Rahul Dravid: No, it?s not modest, its just the way I feel about it. Gaurav Kalra: But a lot of Indian legends haven?t had a chance to captain in a World Cup. For instance, say a Gavaskar or a Tendulkar, someone you have played with. So people of that stature haven?t had a chance to be a captain in a World Cup. As a player itself, is it something that you will probably look back on in years to come? Rahul Dravid: Maybe, maybe a lot of people, do say that. Maybe when you sit back later on in your career, you look back on certain things and feel good about them. I guess when you are playing, you are not thinking about that so much, you are focusing on what you need to do, and how the performances will be. So I guess sometime when you finish you can sit back and enjoy some of these things. I don?t know, maybe I might enjoy something, it might not mean much to me even after I?m gone and I guess there were some other things I know will mean a lot more to me than this maybe. But I guess you we go on to win then it might mean a lot. Gaurav Kalra: It?s your third World Cup. And every World Cup has been different in a way. The year 1999 was the coming of age of the One-Day batsman, you had a wonderful World Cup with the bat; 2003 was an interesting role, of a wicketkeeper, vice-captain, and a wonderful run; 2007 is different. Do cricketers or particularly you look at World Cup journeys as milestones? Is the World Cup different to anything else? Rahul Dravid: Well, I think if you look at your One-Day career, then yes, I think you almost go from World Cup to World Cup. It?s a four-year cycle and we play a lot of One-Day games culminating in a World Cup and then it?s almost like a fresh start. It?s almost happened by design in the sense that for every four years, you play a World Cup, the big event, and then you move on. So, I guess in your One-Day career, yes you look at them as four-year blocks, which sort of go on to the World Cup. So I guess the two earlier ones have been very different, been interesting, challenging and I have enjoyed being a part of the event. We have had some good results in the last one, we played some really good cricket even in England. We have had more mixed results in England and we played a lot of good cricket last time round in South Africa. Gaurav Kalra: The more important business of course was the business of winning. And this was something that the Indian One-Day team, I am sure you read the criticisms; saw it off the losses that piled up. How important was it to come back with these two series wins at home against the West Indies and Sri Lanka? Rahul Dravid: Well it was important from our own point of view. More importantly for me was trying to get some of the key players of the team that were injured, were out of form, back into form and feeling good and confident about themselves. I am happy with most things with the way they have planned out in these two series; we have got the right results, we have also got some good players in some kind of form and have tested a few guys out with their fitness and their concerns. So yes, from that point of view I think it was important and it was good to get these right results. Gaurav Kalra: Well, you are starting to see a decline in Australia. So you know that things go round in circles in cricket. But something happened in this series, and I was amazed by your response to it in the press conferences. You almost played down the fact that you score 10000 One-Day runs. It?s not something that happens to a lot of people Rahul, and you were very normal about it, you didn?t seem to celebrate it too much. Was that conscious or did you not think it was not such a big achievement? What was it? Rahul Dravid: No. Like I said, when I got 10000 runs, I said what?s been heartening in my One-Day career is that I have played roles, I have adapted and evolved myself as a One-Day player, a little bit from when I look back on when I started in 1996, batted in different positions, I have kept wickets for India, I have done all really. I have bowled a bit of off-spin, got Saeed Anwar out, so I have that claim to fame as well. But I have done it all and that sort of gives me satisfaction. The ability for me to have adapted to play in different situations and different challenges, different questions have been thrown up to me in One-Day cricket as in Test cricket, all over these 10 years. And just the fact that I have been able to answer them and to keep improving as a One-Day player has been the good thing for me. Gaurav Kalra: But in the media, we are obsessed with the numbers. Look at that list Rahul ? Lara, Tendulkar, Ganguly, all One-Day legends, even Inzamam-ul-Haq, Sanath Jayasuriya ? these are the guys on that list. Of course it?s a reflection of playing a lot of games as well. But it?s also a reflection of quality of batsmanship that?s needed to get that figure. Rahul Dravid: Make no mistake, I am proud to be in the list of names you have mentioned. To be with them is a huge honour and these are people that I have admired and played against, and watched them and learnt a lot from them. So for me to be in that list is a huge honour. But like you said, it?s also a reflection of having played a lot of cricket, and we do play a lot of cricket. It?s a reflection of playing a lot of games obviously means you have been successful, you have done a few things right and you have got to that stage where you are in a position to have played so many games that gives you a chance to score that many runs. I know there?s an obsession with numbers and the 100s and stuff, but I try and take myself away from that obsession to be very honest with you. I know because at the end of my career the numbers are not going to give me the satisfaction. It?s not going to be something that I am going to be able to get very kicked about, or look back and be happy about, because they don?t fascinate me even now that much. But I think it?s some of the events, some of the things that you do, some of the matches that you win, and some of the teams that you have been a part of, some of the moments that you share, that?s what excites me. So, I know that I strive for those moments and strive for getting the best out of myself and seeing that I can do different things in different situations, and come out trying to do them well. That is I know is something that I can look back on and feel good about. So that?s why probably try and downplay the numbers a bit. Gaurav Kalra: There are opinions that you picked one less batsman, there are opinions that you picked one extra seamer, maybe you have dropped an in-form spinner. Are you comfortable with the balance in this side? Rahul Dravid: Any team will look very good when the players are performing, irrespective of the balance of the team that you pick. I mean at the end of the day, tournaments are not won with balance, tournaments and World Cups are not won by who you pick, who you drop. They are won by players performing. That?s what I try and keep on stressing on, there is a lot of debate going on in India about who is in the 11, why is he not playing, why is he not in the 15. I would just love that same focus to be put in on performances. The match-winning performances that we had in the beginning of the year, we didn?t have that from the same people in the middle of the year. And that?s what everyone?s on, that the balance of the team is wrong. It?s not the balance but it?s the performance. And I would love more focus on that, I would love people to talk about that because that?s at the end of the day what makes teams click. That?s what challenges teams. It?s not about tosses, it?s not about team sheets, and it?s not about that. Cricket matches are not won on that, I mean if that was the case then we might as well toss up, exchange team sheets and leave the ground. Gaurav Kalra: Another interesting thing that you mentioned Rahul, some of these questions when you were asked something on India as a (cricketing) nation that, cricket fans have to accept that the fielding standard of this side will probably be not at the same level as you would expect maybe from some other teams, because of the number of senior players. Maybe I?m not quoting you exactly spot on, but certainly around that effect. Is that something that the team is now comfortable with? Coach Chappell has made some points about it that ?yes, there are a few senior players and as a result we might leak some extra runs.? Rahul Dravid: Let?s be honest. We have never been the best fielding side in the world, I?m not talking of now, I?m talking of way back. I mean if you go back in the 10 years that I have played cricket for India, I could never say at any one stage that we were the best fielding side in the world. Probably not going to be. What I said with the comment that I was making is that we are going to need to be smart with some of the fielders that we have, and which we have always needed to be. It?s not that I am saying something which is new. It?s something that we need to get the best out of. I don?t believe that we can?t be a good fielding side. I think we can be a good fielding side, I think we are working really hard towards it. Australia lose a Symonds and a Lee, if they do at this World Cup, they will bring somebody else in. It changes the dynamics of their team a little bit. They have to look at certain areas to compromise. If Shane Watson was missing from their side, will they be able to play a fifth bowler? It?s similar to what happens with us with out all-rounder situation. So I think teams are always having to look and match, and mix depending on the personnel they have, depending on the team that they have. So that?s what I was trying to say, that yes, we are going to have to look at the area and try and get it better. Gaurav Kalra: And now the other thing, I know I?m throwing a few numbers at you, but there are nine players in that squad that was past of the 2003 squad. People interpreted it in various ways. How do you interpret it? Is that a lack of forward movement in Indian cricket, which might be the negative way to look at it, or the fact that these are the best players in the country and have stayed that way for the last four or five years? Rahul Dravid: I?d say, if we looked at the team of the last World Cup, and you put down the names of the guys in the last World Cup, even if in 2003 you would have asked yourself who would be available for the next World Cup, you would have answered, that other than Javagal Srinath, everyone else you would think, with their ages that they were in, which was quite a young team in the last World Cup and some of us were 29-30, you would back yourself to be playing till 34 especially if you are an inexperienced player. So you look at the team and you would say, yes, there was an opportunity of about 14 of those boys to actually be on this World Cup as well. Sree was the only one who quit after that and everyone else had a realistic chance. So of the 14, nine have selected themselves, they have played well through the year, they are obviously proven performers, and some of them have done really well. So you back them to do it. So when people say that there has been no forward movement, you have to look at it this way. And if you look in the next four year?s time, and there are still 10 people, then you would say there?s probably no forward movement because the ages of the people are different. Today there are a lot more guys at 33-34, some at 35, then you might say that there has been no forward movement. But from the last World Cup to this World Cup, it?s just the age of the guys was totally different. The age of the team was different. So I don?t think that there has been no forward movement. I think the players that have played in the last World Cup have been some good people to have come through. And just because people don?t make the 15 of a World Cup doesn?t mean that there?s no forward movement. You have got to look at the group and I think a group involves about 20 players, 15-20, just some of the guys who were out of the fringes of the World Cup, how they come along. The World Cup is just one event. Lets not forget, life goes on after that as well. And teams have to keep building. So I think there has been good forward movement in the last four years. Gaurav Kalra: Rahul, you have known Sourav Ganguly for many, many years, and great friends, you were his vice-captain, and you have had wonderful partnerships over the years. Did you expect what he has done to happen? And also, how much do you admire for what has happened with Sourav Ganguly? Or is that a lot of hype in the media, the cricket team doesn?t think like this. Rahul Dravid: No. Obviouly there has been a lot of hype, which is fair enough. It is expected in India, and I don?t mean the hype because it?s Sourav, but there is a lot of hype over everything. It happens in Indian cricket. But what he has done is fantastic. He has come back and he has played really well. He had gone back to domestic cricket, he?s played really well, he has come back a lot fitter, he?s batting really well and that?s what we need. We need a player who is hungry, who has come back and who can produce those match-winning performances that we know he is capable of and that could really help us in the World Cup. So it?s great to have a player like him back now and performing the way he is performing, because that?s the kind of players you want in your team. When I talk of key performances and key players, that?s what I mean. You need players who are performing. And Sourav?s doing that, so that gives us a great chance. Gaurav Kalra: Few fitness concerns, obviously you still have a lot of time before you play Bangladesh on the 17th. So there is a lot to go. But Munaf, Yuvraj, people like that. It?s not as much of a gamble as it is being made out to be. They will be fine and that?s the message that you sent out with the selection as well, right? Rahul Dravid: Yes, they will be fine but we have given ourselves a month medically and a lot of these decisions we take are in consultations with physios, sports doctors and things like that. They have a lot more knowledge on these things than I do. So it?s not arbitrary decision that yes, Rahul Dravid decides it. So we also have to think about these things a bit. We hope they will all be fine by the time that happens, but who?s to say? This is sport. This is international sport. Who is to say that something else might not crop up? You can only hope. You can prepare as much as you want, you can do the best as you can, and that?s what we can hope for. Who was to say that Lee would not be playing the World Cup? Or who was to say that Matthew Hayden will break a toe? I mean I broke a finger in South Africa and these things can happen. People must understand that injuries are part and parcel of international sport. We are not the only team that has them. Because it gets discussed so much, it seems that we are a bunch of crooked patients going out to play the World Cup. But it?s not the case. Every team in the world has problems. There is a lot of cricket being played. I?m quite confident, I mean I was really happy with the way Yuvraj has come through, I?m happy with Munaf, I think he has come through well. But you just have to keep going. It?s one of the things that we have been lucky with. In the last World Cup, we didn?t have any major injuries right through the tournament. I think 12 players played the whole tournament for us, and that was a fantastic achievement. But you need a bit of luck for that, and I hope that we can do that in that sense as well. I hope we don?t have any major injuries in the World Cup. Gaurav Kalra: Also a sort of a swansong for a lot of you n World Cup terms in a way, because this is a group of players you have played with, you have bonded with for a very long time ? Anil Kumble, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid ? a core group of the Indian cricket system for the last few years. How much eagerness is there, or is it any different now that this might just be the last chance you have to win a World Cup together? Rahul Dravid: I think the World Cup is going to be won by the team. We are going to need performances from everyone. We need performances from key players. We have got a squad that?s going out there to the World Cup. It?s not about Rahul Dravid or Kumble or Ganguly or Tendulkar. It?s not about us. It?s about the team. If we do well in this World Cup, it?s the team that will do well in the World Cup. That?s what it?s about. That?s what the focus has got to be on. I mean yes, but I don?t want to romanticise this and get into this whole thing. I?m not really romantic about it. I just think that we have got a job to do. I believe we are a good team and we have to go out there and perform like a good team now. Gaurav Kalra: The final thing I want to ask you, it?s always about the fans, especially around the World Cup. You can?t go away from it. We remember what happened in the last game, how it went up and then down and then it went up again. We are running something here called Cheer for India, and we are getting very excited fans coming on and cheering the team. From a team?s perspective, that?s something you feel when the fans get behind you and around the World Cup, it starts becoming more than it is normally. Rahul Dravid: It is. I mean everywhere you go in India there are people encouraging you and saying ?go out and do your best? and ?try and win us the World Cup.? It?s a great thing to have support and I have always said this that the Indian team?s lucky in the sense that we have the best fans in the world. Obviously they are very emotional and it goes up and down like you said. It?s part and parcel of it. It?s important to keep a perspective in it as well. I think sometimes things can change if you go a bit over the top and everyone has a role to play in it. That we as players have a role to play and how we say things; even the media has to play a role as well, a very big role to play in terms of trying to explain all sort of people that at the end of the day, this is a game. It?s a sport, and we are no different from anyone else in that sense. But it?s great to have that support and I know we are going to have a lot of support in the West Indies. We are the best-supported team in the world and we will not be lacking for that I think in the West Indies. Gaurav Kalra: Thank you so much Rahul for talking to us and I hope the World Cup goes well. Rahul Dravid: Thank you.

[kumble_rocks]

Re: Great to have Sourav back: Dravid Flip Flopper in the mould of John Kerry.:hic: Just before the SA series , he did not want him back.

[yoda]

Re: Great to have Sourav back: Dravid

Flip Flopper in the mould of John Kerry.:hic: Just before the SA series , he did not want him back.

He didn't say he wanted him back, did he?