Shouldn't Dravid be offered VRS ?

[Guest HariSampath]

i hope selector makes his own decisions without listening to you :D

Oh...Cheeka is a very fair Chief selector, in fact he single handedly made the BCCI agree to retirement plans and also assured senior players of an honorable exit. But he and I discuss Indian cricket series, all the time, and have been doing so for decades now, right from his playing days. Just that I know how his mind functions; and he also trusts me a great deal. Particularly when it comes to collecting the stats, bowling records, batting records for players in various test situations etc, he is lazy, doesnt get it himself , and I help him out a lot. He has his views, we agree a lot, he differs sometimes too with me. But still.......I DO have a little bit of influence....one small tiny bit...with him, and I will use it as best and as much as possible :two_thumbs_up:

[Donny]

I agree that Dravid has been out of form for a while now ... but I think the man deserves a few more series' especially since Ganguly is already going. We want to phase out the retirement of the middle order. Just looking at him batting though, I feel he just needs 1 big knock and that will spur on a run of big scores. He is batting fairly well without much luck. I feel a big score is around the corner for Rahul Dravid. I would not drop him.

A good reason you'll never be a selector. "without much luck" ? Do you mean the way he keeps missing the ball or getting edges ?

[ananthd]

Dravid has averaged 32 in the last 25 tests..... End of story, there's something called a rope and I think 25 Tests is long enough for a 36 year old.... The guy has been our 3rd best Test batter, but the time has come to give him a gentle nudge if he doesn't announce his retirement.....

[Rajan]

Chateshwar Pujara is a very good batsman. unfortunately he does not have any influence in the cricket set up. he is from a less fancied ranji team. he has been performing very well in whatever limited opportunities he gets. his major problem is that he has to compete with Niranjan shah's son for representing india A and other teams because both are from same team. he does not have a Godfather. but he has lot of talent. he shud be given a break. i have nothing against Badri or Rohit or Yuvi or Raina.but Pujara deserves more opportunities.

[Shane]

I have a feeling that Nagpur might be the last chance for RD and i hope he scores a big 100 there, at least for the sake of my SS score !!!

[Guest HariSampath]

Dravid has got 275 runs in last 10 test inngs. In the last SIX test series he has played, he has FAILED in all of them as follows : In SAF : complete failure without a single 50 in 3 tests. In England , complete failure with just one 50 in 3 tests Against Pak at home : Just 1 50 in 3 tests, failed again In Australia : Two 50s in 4 tests ( series failure, except an inngs of 90 in Perth) SAF at home : 1 100 in 3 tests. ( the Chepauk crawlathon in 300 balls SL tour : 1 50 in 3 tests, complete failure again. Take a guess!!! what should we do ?? Current Aus series : 1 50 in 3 tests . Failed yet again.

[bharat297]

A good reason you'll never be a selector. "without much luck" ? Do you mean the way he keeps missing the ball or getting edges ?

Well he had 2 inside edges and that catch from Ponting was pretty good. For a player in form, those inside edges would have probably missed the stumps and that flick through midwicket would have probably missed Ponting. Im just saying that given his record and his hard-working nature, the man probably deserves maybe 1 more series (possibly 2).

[King Tendulkar]

We need him still. With dada gone we need him for one more series at least! Until the newbie beds down!

[Guest HariSampath]

Well, with his last patron and good friend Anil Kumble gone too, retired, the pressure is far greater on Dravid. He has been the least effective player in India over 2 years, and if Anil felt with his form and fitness it was time to go, folks everywhere would be asking "what about Dravid, Saurav and Anil have saved their faces, but neither is Dravid performing, nor does he wanna go "...so Dravid may also announce retirement after next test, otherwise he would risk being dropped.

[Dinx - the Jinx]

Do you guys really want Dravid to call it quits now? Thats outreageous...

[amits]

harisampath, do u even follow cricket??? rohit sharma is the worst batsman the indian team has seen. he hits just 1-2 good looking 4s & then gets out & never seems to score more than 20. he has avged only 20 in odis after the cb series & even the cb series wasnt anything spcl. rohit sharma avged only 27 there. pujara & dhawan r much better batsmen than what rohit sharma can ever dream of becoming. yuseless isnt fit to play test cricket & kohli needs atleast 1 more season of fc cricket before coming into the test team. as of now raina, dhawan, badrinath & pujara should be the ones to replace ganguly & dravid in the test team

[Guest HariSampath]

I follow cricket...but NOT the one you seem to be following...one in which Cheteshwar Pujara and Shikar Dhawan are better than Rohit, or Yuvraj. dude..Rohit has been frated as the most complete of the younger gen batsmen, and Ian Chappell has called him the next Tendulkar...and what exactly are Pujara's credentials ? what has he done in FC cricket ? Has he even played for his West zone team ? Has he ever faced an international bowler ? has he ever faced and scored runs against an INdian International bowler ? No way , dude...and trust me, Yuvraj is a terrific test player, he has been in bad form just in a few tests. But he is 100% playing in the 11 during England series. Badri and Rohit are next in line to replace Ganguly and Dravid.

[Guest HariSampath]

Do you guys really want Dravid to call it quits now? Thats outreageous...

No , we know he wont. We just want him DROPPED, based on his non performance and total failures of last 6 test series

[amits]

I follow cricket...but NOT the one you seem to be following...one in which Cheteshwar Pujara and Shikar Dhawan are better than Rohit, or Yuvraj. dude..Rohit has been frated as the most complete of the younger gen batsmen, and Ian Chappell has called him the next Tendulkar...and what exactly are Pujara's credentials ? what has he done in FC cricket ? Has he even played for his West zone team ? Has he ever faced an international bowler ? has he ever faced and scored runs against an INdian International bowler ? No way , dude...and trust me, Yuvraj is a terrific test player, he has been in bad form just in a few tests. But he is 100% playing in the 11 during England series. Badri and Rohit are next in line to replace Ganguly and Dravid.

just take a look at rohits fc & list a records & compare them with dhawan & pujara. rohit is in the team purely on mumbai quota. if there was no mumbai quota, rohit sharma would have been nowhere close to the indian team. and yuvraj isnt even in the test scheme of things these days. raina & badrinath r the next 2 in line for tests followed by kaif, dhawan & kohli

[Guest HariSampath]

Rohit is not being spoken of because of his FC record...he came to the team a diff route, through T20, and through ODI...nothing wrong with it. He has scored a 100 against this same Aussie attack in a 4 day game, and played brilliantly, he is just good enough and a top quality act. Pujara is nowhere close. Rohit has played against International attacks, against Lee, Johnson, Pakistan and other teams like SL. He is also next in line. Yuvraj is not new, he has been a test player, got fantastic 100s on green top pitches , against Aussies, Pakistan ( Akthar , Asif etc), so dont even dream of comparing anyone to Yuvraj, he is a top quality , hugely talented batsman in India and everyone knows it. He was dropped on and off and he got NOWHERE near as many opportunities as Dravid in the past 15-20 tests. Yuvraj got a brilliant 175 coming into a crisis at 60-4 in Bangalore against Pakistan, but after 2 tests when he failed in Aus, he was dropped. Right now a right handed Yuvraj is a better bet than Dravid, and you heard it here ...Yuvraj is playing ALL TESTS against England. keep reading the papers.

[bharat297]

just take a look at rohits fc & list a records & compare them with dhawan & pujara. rohit is in the team purely on mumbai quota. if there was no mumbai quota' date=' rohit sharma would have been nowhere close to the indian team. and yuvraj isnt even in the test scheme of things these days. raina & badrinath r the next 2 in line for tests followed by kaif, dhawan & kohli[/quote'] I disagree about Rohit Sharma. Ive never seen a more talented young batsman than him emerge since probably Sehwag. He seems to have so much time to hit the ball. He has great timing and his footwork is very precise. His technique is very good and he is equally strong off both front and back foot. There is no denying this kids talent. Its absolutely ludicrous to say he is the worst batsman the indian team has seen. he is the future, and he will be the next great Indian batsman. To expect excellent statistics from a kid who is 21 is a bit silly. Take a look at Michael Clarke's first class record when he got picked for the top side. It wasnt very good, but he took to international cricket. Rohit Sharma is another who will take to the top level when the time comes. I dont think that time is now though. He needs a few more years of first class cricket and ODI cricket just to get the consistency required. Other than that ... the kids a freak!!! I disagree with HS about Yuvraj. He just doesnt have the technique to succeed at test level. He has a high backlift which is fine (and enables him to strike the ball very cleanly) but when bringing it down in defence, very often he doesnt bring it back down straight. As a result, he is prone to caught behinds when defending balls just outside his off stump. This is one of the reasons he has struggled against quality spin. I think Badrinath is the next in line ... then Raina or Dhawan.

[amits]

i cant understand y so many ppl r supporting rohit sharma. rohit sharma will always be a flop in odis & tests. he just doesnt have it in him to play the long innings. rohit sharma just hits 1-2 good looking 4s & ppl think of him as the next big thing whereas players like dhawan & pujara who consistently playthe long innings dont even get talked about. and rohit sharma has been a proven failure this year for india. even ishant sharma & zaheer khan seem to be better batsmen than rohit sharma. rohit sharma has struggled against spin & was a total flop in the asia cup & the sl series and talking of the 100 in the tour game, that was a part of aussie game plans. take a look at my thread around that time about that rohit 100 to know more. rohit sharma will never get a chance to play test cricket & he will be forgotten by 2009 after some more failures in domestic cricket this season. so forget rohit & talk of players like dhawan & pujara

[Guest HariSampath]

I will bet you $1 million ICF , amits...meaning , you DONT have to pay me anything, but IF either Pujara or Dhawan make it even to Indian squad in next year ( not 11...just squad) I will pay you ...so just grow up; you aint seen any test cricket I think . Your statement that Rohit Sharma is the worst Indian batter says it all about you .LOL what a ridiculously ignorant argument. The best Indian batting lineup is Sehwag, Gambhir, VVS, Sachin, Yuvraj Rohit ( with Kohli or Badri coming in place of VVS very very soon. By the end of the England series, thankfully, all the "seniors" would be out of the team except Sachin, and he alone deserves his place on a permanent basis.

[bharat297]

i cant understand y so many ppl r supporting rohit sharma. rohit sharma will always be a flop in odis & tests. he just doesnt have it in him to play the long innings. rohit sharma just hits 1-2 good looking 4s & ppl think of him as the next big thing whereas players like dhawan & pujara who consistently playthe long innings dont even get talked about. and rohit sharma has been a proven failure this year for india. even ishant sharma & zaheer khan seem to be better batsmen than rohit sharma. rohit sharma has struggled against spin & was a total flop in the asia cup & the sl series

So basically you've decided what Rohit Sharma can and cant do at age 21? How do you know he cant play long innings? He has made a double-ton before in domestic cricket. He definitely can do it. There is no reason he cant hit more centuries. Its just a question of working hard in domestic cricket for a few more years. Rohit Sharma is a fantastic batsman. A star "in the making". What that means is that he has all the attributes to be a success (general technique, high elbow, good balance, plays with full face of the bat, superb timing, good footwork, plays with so much time). If you actually watch him bat, you will notice this. Every commentator that has seen him bat has picked up on this. Yes he has some things to work on, and thats why I think he is not ready at the moment to play Tests, but to say he will always be a flop shows you dont know what you're talking about. He hasnt been a total flop this year. In fact he bailed us out of trouble on a few occassions, such as the Melbourne ODI, the Canberra ODI, the Sydney final. Its silly to expect standout stats from a kid who is only 21. At that age you should be looking at whether or not they have the skills to improve their stats , which Rohit Sharma most definitely does.

[cochise]

Right now a right handed Yuvraj is a better bet than Dravid, and you heard it here ...Yuvraj is playing ALL TESTS against England. keep reading the papers.

YESSSS!!!!!!!!!! I like it!