Kyu? Why..When I was Playing

[fineleg]

Then why not wait 2 or 3 more overs? ... surely that would make him more comfortable ... and theyd still get many overs to bowl at Pakistan that evening.

u mean to say RD did a scheming, conniving plot? Its just that he did not pay attention to personal milestones - thats all.

[Rajiv]

I don't agree with the dravid protecting record part all either, I feel it was bit hasty when the ball was already in our court Whatever dravid was trying to do never changed anything in Indian cricket, we won that much by a comfortable margin and we disappointed the normally obsessed public of another double from Sachin ..and if anyone tells me here that they wouldn't want to see their player with a 201 instead of 199 is lying through their guts, cut the double standard

[fineleg]

Cricket was and is supposed to be a team sport. Maybe the media needs to cop a lot of blame for converting this into a sport about individual cricketers and their milestones. A well played 190 is as good and as great as a well played 200 - equally appreciated except cricinfo and other stats books will tell otherwise.

[bharat297]

u mean to say RD did a scheming, conniving plot? Its just that he did not pay attention to personal milestones - thats all.

Im not saying that ... its just that I find it hard to believe that an extra 2 overs would have hurt India that much. Given that it is a team game, helping out one of your team mates by giving him a chance to notch up a double ton (consecutive double tons too) is the right thing to do. I cant think of any other captain that has ever declared with a player that close to a milestone. If there was only 30 mins or so left in the days play I understand, but if he had waited 2 or 3 overs India would have 13 or 14 overs at the Pakis late in the day, which is plenty. I'll never understand why all of a sudden Dravid felt that it was time to declare. It was extremely random.

[yoda]

I'll never understand why all of a sudden Dravid felt that it was time to declare. It was extremely random.

All declarations appear random unless the captain tells you the exact reason why he did so. Some declare at 600, some at 615, some at 635, some with 10 overs to go, others with 15 to go, others with 2 sessions to go. They all appear random to those who aren't involved in the decision making process. Bottom line is this: We won the test. End of Story.

[bharat297]

All declarations appear random unless the captain tells you the exact reason why he did so. Some declare at 600, some at 615, some at 635, some with 10 overs to go, others with 15 to go, others with 2 sessions to go. They all appear random to those who aren't involved in the decision making process. Bottom line is this: We won the test. End of Story.

Dont get me wrong, I am very happy we won the Test ... but its not a good thing to do to a team-mate ... Remember as much as it is a team game, you are also playing for your team mates. If you are willing to wait as long as Dravid did ... 2 more overs wouldnt have hurt the team.

[Guest Hiten.]

India needed RD to score at more than the SR of 29 today, but booohooo he did not score faster, I guess he did not get the message from Kumble :hysterical:

[Willow_on_fire]

Yes...I remember watching that match live when RD declared before SRT got to his well deserved 200...was definetely surprised at Dravid's decision.

[Rajiv]

India needed RD to score at more than the SR of 29 today' date=' but booohooo he did not score faster, I guess he did not get the message from Kumble :hysterical:[/quote'] Frankly I don't mind him retiring instead of ganguly, the "wallness" of dravid is now plaster of Paris

[DomainK]

You know the difference between a leader and a manager? A leader is people centric- the interest of his people comes first for him. A manager is company centric- the interest of the company comes first for him. A captain's job lies somewhere in between and hence is far more difficult than a leader's or a manager's. A captain who thinks cold bloodedly about winning the match and not about the players is not a good captain. He is failing in his responsibilities as a leader. There were several points to consider: 1. Could he have allowed Tendulkar to complete his double without compromising the desired result of the match? The answer is yes. Even Dravid himself admits as much. 2. A double century against Pakistan in Pakistan would have been very inspiring for his premier batsman Tendulkar, the rest of the team and fans. Its a captain's responsibility to keep the team members inspired. Yes, they do get inspired from a test victory, but then personal landmarks also have their importance....specifically when they can be achieved without compromising the match result. Let me give you an example. When a campaign goes brilliantly well, my team members are invariably happy. We go partying and we celebrate. Nothing inspires them better than greatl team work resulting in a great campaign. However that does not stop me from recommending their periodical salary raises. A salary raise may be a personal achievement for them and does not add to team work directly, but it does inspire the individual, does it not? 3. Dravid had two choices: send in a message earlier or wait for him to get at least 4/5 deliveries to complete those six runs. He did neither.

[bharat297]

^ I agree with point no1 and no3.

[yoda]

In a team game individual scores are a by product of the match. The match is not played for individual scores. Anyways, end of discussion in this thread for me.

[bharat297]

^ The point Domaink was making was that Dravid could have timed the declaration in such a way that both the team and the individual could benefit (either by sending the message out earlier or waiting 2 more overs) Dravid didnt do either and thus the declaration was not timed well. Ganguly, who was responsible for making the decision, even admitted this.

[Online]

You know the difference between a leader and a manager? A leader is people centric- the interest of his people comes first for him. A manager is company centric- the interest of the company comes first for him. A captain's job lies somewhere in between and hence is far more difficult than a leader's or a manager's. A captain who thinks cold bloodedly about winning the match and not about the players is not a good captain. He is failing in his responsibilities as a leader.

I like that...very well put DomainK