Dravid undergoes corrective surgery

[urbestfriend]

BTW how many tests Rahul has missed after his debut? Any idea..?

[Karan114]

^^ One (third Test against SL in 2005)

[coffee_rules]

^1, I think the first as a captain in SL's last India tour in 2006.

[urbestfriend]

^ & ^^, Thanks! That's awesome ! shows his commitment and hard-work towards maintaining fitness. Well that also means We'll be playing a test without a Karnataka player after long time :(( May be after 20 years !!

[The Dark Horse]

BTW how many tests Rahul has missed after his debut? Any idea..?

^^ One (third Test against SL in 2005)

:hail:

[Sachinism]

Rahul Dravid absence a big blow, says Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir, the Indian opener, has described Rahul Dravid's absence from the Test series against South Africa as a "big blow" but remains confident after beginning the year on a positive note, beating Bangladesh 2-0. "Rahul Dravid has been the wall of the Indian middle order batting and his absence against a quality team such as South Africa will be a big blow," Gambhir said. "But we have begun 2010 well [by winning against Bangladesh]. The players would want to carry the momentum against South Africa. Moreover, injuries are part and parcel of sports, and it gives other players an opportunity to prove their mettle against a tough opposition." Dravid had injured his upper left jaw against in the second Test against Bangladesh in Mirpur and underwent surgery in Bangalore on Friday. He has been advised two to three weeks' rest, making him an unlikely prospect for the two-Test series. South Africa last toured India in 2008, drawing the series 1-1. They drew the first Test in Chennai, won the second comfortably in Ahmedabad and were upstaged in the third on a minefield in Kanpur. "They (South Africa) did well when they were here the last time, but didn't win the series," Gambhir said. "They will surely carry some confidence from that tour. But we have started off the year well by winning the series against Bangladesh. We have a lot of cricket ahead and it is good to start the year on such a positive note. "We have to play well as a team. It would be crucial for us to get a good start, either batting or bowling first. If we are batting first we need to put up a good total to back up the bowlers. If we are bowling first, we need to take crucial early wickets." Gambhir also said South Africa possessed a strong pace attack but the recent form of Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan, who excelled in the Test series against Bangladesh, Gambhir said, makes for an exciting contest. "They have a strong bowling pair in Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. We need to start off well upfront to keep them at bay," he said. "Though we don't have Sreesanth, Zaks (Zaheer Khan) has been bowling extremely well recently. His performance in Bangladesh speaks volumes of the form he is in. Ishant Sharma has also been bowling well in Test and we do have a good balance in bowling." Sreesanth suffered a thigh strain during the first Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong, but was hopeful of being fit for the second Test against South Africa at Eden Gardens. "There is nothing serious and I am having very good training sessions at the NCA. I am very happy with my progress and I am recovering very fast," Sreesanth told PTI in Kolkata. "I have started running sprints and will start bowling soon, may be by Wednesday or Thursday. Everything is looking good and hopefully I should be fit for the second Test. I really don't want to miss any game be it against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka or South Africa. "I will not say it will be a 2-0 for us, but I am sure it will be a good contest. I am looking forward to play if I get fit and if I get selected for sure."

http://www.cricinfo.com/indvrsa2010/content/story/446424.html

[Feed]

Difficult for India to replace Dravid: Graeme Smith India will find it difficult to cope with the absence of middle-order mainstay Rahul Dravid despite having quality replacements at their disposal during the upcoming two-Test series, feels South Africa captain Graeme Smith. More... Difficult for India to replace Dravid: Graeme Smith PTIMonday, February 1, 2010 NAGPUR: India will find it difficult to cope with the absence of middle-order mainstay Rahul Dravid despite having quality replacements at their disposal during the upcoming two-Test series, feels South Africa captain Graeme Smith. Addressing the media for the first time after the team landed yesterday, Smith said he was keen to know who would fill in the vital slot of Dravid, who underwent a surgery on his jaw that was broken in Bangladesh during the second Test at Mirpur. "They still have quality players there, but to lose somebody of the calibre of Rahul Dravid with an incredible career of over 10,000 runs is always very difficult," the left-handed batsman said. "There is still a lot of quality in the Indian team. No. 3 is obviously a key position in any batting line-up, so it is going to be very interesting to see whom they choose to use there," he said. "The rest of their guys are pretty set in their batting positions so it will be interesting to see if they put (uncapped) S Badrinath at No. 3 or somebody else there," Smith told reporters. The Proteas will start their tour with a two-day practice match against the Cricket Board president's XI before taking on India in the Test series opener on February 6. The second match starts in Kolkata on February 14. Proteas coach Mickey Arthur stepped down just a few days before their departure to India but Smith said he and interim coach Corrie van Zyl can dovetail their plans effectively together. "As far as having a new coach in Corrie is concerned, we have worked together before and we had a good session today. The players are all going about their work as normal to make sure we are all prepared as best as we can be come Saturday," Smith said. Arthur put in his papers following differences with the Cricket South Africa which later sacked the entire selection panel headed by Mike Proctor. Smith said the number one Test spot was not much of a priority for them as the team was focussed on winning the series. "The No. 1 ranking is not really an issue for us. India have been playing good cricket, that is why they are ranked No. 1. We will concentrate on our own game. We know that if we perform to our levels and our standards we can put India under a lot of pressure," he said.

[vvvslaxman]

Thanks for stating the obvious Smith.

[Sachinism]

Thanks for stating the obvious Smith.

Exactly my thoughts, but then I thought Gambhir said the same thing the other day on cricinfo lol

[Desi Cartman]

[DomainK]

That is some serious ****. How did he deduce that?

[MUMBAISKIPPER]

no one can replace the great Indian Wall

[Cricketics]

Exactly my thoughts' date=' but then I thought Gambhir said the same thing the other day on cricinfo lol[/quote'] It's funny actually how people try to make fun of players. It's actually the the author of the article who should be slammed for creating an article out of a simple statement. When a reporter would ask a player that "India would be without Dravid" off course smith has to answer back something. But the dude doesn't have to write an article on it.

[Dravid]

stop the homoness make sehwag captain for few days b4 tests start :D

[achilles]

^ Yo Dravid, what the heck are you doing here? Shouldn't you be working on your rehab? Whats the dealeo?

[Show_stopper]

Rather than bash Smith..its the press that deserve the scorn. they seriously need to take a good long look at their objectives. Most of the questions aren't worthy of the space..you don't need to waste players' time for this rubbish. Infact scrap the conference if you lack real questions.

[Ram]

At least VVS is fit and back.. Misssing both RD and VVS would have been disastrous.

[graphic23]

I think Graeme Smith deserves a nobel prize.

[king2be98]

Well perhaps you guys need to realise, he was asked the question by a member of the Indian press, probably seeking even more praise for a very good player (I rarely use the term great). I don't think you need to joke about what he's said especially when he was asked in the first place. There are a lot of very good players in the recent past, but in the game of cricket I can only say there have been 4 or 5. So the term great is very much overused. A very good batsman Dravid is. Oh and I know you'll say I'm a biased Paki etc, well Pakistan have never had any great batsmen and only ever 1 great player, so no bias. I just think words great and champion are so overused.

[achilles]

Smith was being Captain Obvious here. Don't know why some sections of the media interpreted it as something else and did 1hr shows on that! Talking about shows, they did one on some Hindi channel yest (maybe Live India)- "SA ki aa gayi hai shamat.... India ke paas hai ek hathyaar.... Woh 50 gram se bhi kum hai.... Kya hai yeh hatyar jo SA ke chakke chhuda dega?" And they were talking about the cricket ball and the Indian pacers' ability to swing it :hysterical: