Should Rahul Dravid retire now???

[Gunner_Mania]

All I will say is, he deserves to go out on his own. Stop getting on his case after every failure, not for a moment do I believe that he is playing for the sake of money or to score a few more runs and get some records. He knows far more better than most of us that if he thinks he is not honestly giving his best for India he will go away.

[King Tendulkar]

In the last 2 years , Dravid has averaged 46

[achilles]

All I will say is' date=' he deserves to go out on his own. Stop getting on his case after every failure, not for a moment do I believe that he is playing for the sake of money or to score a few more runs and get some records. He knows far more better than most of us that if he thinks he is not honestly giving his best for India he will go away.[/quote'] Agreed. PS- We do agree on a few things :P

[Andy]

This guy needs to retire or see himself getting Dropped. That would be pity given one of the greatest India ever had.

[cowboysfan]

this thread is ridiculous.dravid will retire if he feels he cant contribute anymore /thread.

[Roshanrocks]

dravid will retire when he wants to retire.... we need him for south africa and australia....

[Precambrian]

Dravid definitely deserved the extended run in quest of form ni the last 3 years.. considering the brilliant service rendered for Indian cricket prior to that... But last 3 years have been really well.. mediocre: 2089 runs @ 40 from 57 innings isn't exactly what you expect from your first choice No.3 batsman... And if you remove Bangladesh from that, it falls to 39... But somehow this significant underperformance hasn't affected India the test team, is heartening in a way and testimony to how our remaining batting resources have filled in for this guy.. and it also adds to the confidence that should a rookie debut in place of Dravid at the moment, India has the necessary buffer to cushion the impact...! So I believe it's high time we blooded a youngster while we are having the luxury of this cushion. Perhaps we can give Dravid one more chance in coming NZ series. If he fails in that too, I see no reason why he has to be afforded another opp in SA... SA isn't some place where Dravid has scored heavily even in his prime..

[Shane]

This thread is a joke man. Fickle fans.

[Texy]

1 or 2 failures can't dispel years of service in being the batting backbone of our test team He can and should go for as long as possible

[ZodiaC]

All I will say is' date=' he deserves to go out on his own. Stop getting on his case after every failure, not for a moment do I believe that he is playing for the sake of money or to score a few more runs and get some records. He knows far more better than most of us that if he thinks he is not honestly giving his best for India he will go away.[/quote'] Totally agree, that's the very least we can do for him, what a legend.

[Clarke]

Do we have a top of the line replacement ? In hindsight, one can say Gilly missed out on some tests because Healy was doing fine, but then we had seen Gilly's brilliance in odis. Can we say the same for any of our current odi batsmen ? Players like Kohli have the talent but unless they are absolutely amazing, its hard to drop a servant of the game like RD. Fair or otherwise, that's the way it is.

[ZodiaC]

Do we have a top of the line replacement ? In hindsight' date=' one can say Gilly missed out on some tests because Healy was doing fine, but then we had seen Gilly's brilliance in odis. [b']Can we say the same for any of our current odi batsmen ? Players like Kohli have the talent but unless they are absolutely amazing, its hard to drop a servant of the game like RD. Fair or otherwise, that's the way it is.

That's got to do a lot with our team/squad selection actually. Players like Rahane, Dhawan, Pujara are in sublime form and never make their cut to the team. Instead rockstar Jaddu & Nohit gets a free run despite their failures. Heck, Tiwari who sneaked into the squad has been warming benches for ages now, we don't even want to play him in dead rubbers. I don't know how one can judge players unless they're given chances? Agree with you though that RD should be persisted with as of now - unless he wants otherwise

[Deleted_User_1]

Dravid still has a place in this team.......form is fleeting class is permanent.

[don_corleone840]

Dravid still has a place in this team.......form is fleeting class is permanent.

this type of attitude is not good if india wants to hold no1 position in world.we cant just pick players on basis of greatness.

[Andy]

this type of attitude is not good if india wants to hold no1 position in world.we cant just pick players on basis of greatness.

++++

[Ultimate_Game]

It's a very tough call but Dravid should be replaced IMO. I know Dravid has been a standout player for us and an architect of many high profile wins (Kolkatta 2001 along with Laxman, Adelaide 2003, Pakistan 2004, Windies 2005 or 06) but the dilemma we are faced with is that if we don't phase out our senior batsmen in a planned manner we might face a situation where the middle order will need to be replaced literally at the same time. We need to get players such as Pujara, Raina, Vijay, Kohli etc. playing time with Tendulkar & Laxman so that they can learn from the legends while playing rather than be thrown at the deep end with nobody around to guide them. Also, we need to blood youngsters at the earliest just to determine who looks the part in Tests and who is more of a pretender than a contender. Let's face it, to be at the top we have to be ruthless and make some hard decisions. Aussies reached the top because they dropped players like Mark Waugh, Healy, Taylor, Slater etc. without any regrets - in fact Healy wasn't even given a farewell test at his home ground!!! And we all know what the aussie selectors did to Steve Waugh before the 2003 world cup. Success comes to those who work for it and in cricket this is true both on and off the field.

[Karan114]

We need to get players such as Pujara' date=' Raina, Vijay, Kohli etc. playing time with Tendulkar & Laxman so that they can learn from the legends while playing rather than be thrown at the deep end with nobody around to guide them. Also, we need to blood youngsters at the earliest just to determine who looks the part in Tests and who is more of a pretender than a contender.[/quote'] This is happening anyways because of injuries. Vijay is playing his eighth Test, Raina his fourth and Pujara is on debut.

[Ultimate_Game]

This is happening anyways because of injuries. Vijay is playing his eighth Test' date=' Raina his fourth and Pujara is on debut.[/quote'] I was not referring to a one-off match due to injuries. It's time to gives some of these youngsters a longer and extended run in the team. The youngsters should be part of the team and not just a fill-in for an odd match here and there. There are things you can only learn while being part of the team and not just playing occasionally. I mean once Laxman comes back what happens to Pujara? I would prefer the likes of Pujara, Badrinath, Kohli etc. to be part of the squad and at least Pujara given an extended run in the team in place of Dravid. I don't think Sachin and Laxman will be aaround for more than 2-3 years so it's imperative we have replacements by that time.

[Karan114]

I was not referring to a one-off match due to injuries. It's time to gives some of these youngsters a longer and extended run in the team. The youngsters should be part of the team and not just a fill-in for an odd match here and there. There are things you can only learn while being part of the team and not just playing occasionally.

Raina has played his fourth consecutive Test and Vijay has played seven out of India's last ten Tests. So even though it might have been caused by injuries, this is not a one-off thing, and in Raina's case it isn't even because of injuries - he is a first choice player in the top six having replaced Yuvraj Singh. As for learning things, well these guys are a consistent part of the squad and there is a lot someone like Vijay is gaining just by being around the senior guys. Don't get me wrong, I take your point but what I'm saying is that by default the likes of Vijay are playing a fair few games and learning a lot. It isn't easy knowing you will only play when there is an injury obviously.

[Ultimate_Game]

Raina has played his fourth consecutive Test and Vijay has played seven out of India's last ten Tests. So even though it might have been caused by injuries, this is not a one-off thing, and in Raina's case it isn't even because of injuries - he is a first choice player in the top six having replaced Yuvraj Singh. As for learning things, well these guys are a consistent part of the squad and there is a lot someone like Vijay is gaining just by being around the senior guys. Don't get me wrong, I take your point but what I'm saying is that by default the likes of Vijay are playing a fair few games and learning a lot. It isn't easy knowing you will only play when there is an injury obviously.

At the end of the day you have to look at the bigger picture and make the decision whether it's more beneficial to have the current player (Dravid) in the team or bring in a new one (Pujara) and also determine what might be the drop-off in terms of performance for the team. It's fair to say Dravid is in a decline and is now averaging in 30s right now, and I am sure Pujara should be able to average the same. In worst case scenario Pujara may average slightly less than what Dravid is doing now. The good thing is that in case Pujara doesn't pan out now, we will have Tendulkar & Laxman to fall back on to shoulder the burden. I don't want us to be in a position where we have to rope in the likes of Pujara, Kohli etc. within a few months of each other and then we don't have any experienced players to fall back on. I agree, this approach is unfair to a player of Dravid's stature especially based on the contributions he has made to Indian cricket over the years. But as I said earlier, to be the best you have to be ruthless and have to make tough decisions.