Rahul Dravid

I have a vague recollection of a thread on here some while back of which Rahul Dravid was the subject. Sadly I can't remember exactly when it was, but no matter.

The gist of the thread was that Rahul Dravid was no longer the top-drawer batsman of previous years, and many forummers (particularly Indians) were beginning to question his future as an International cricketer. His form was patchy, and his average had dropped down to 52 over the previous couple of years or so.

The feeling was that his heart was no longer really inthe game, and a few wondered whether age was finally catching up with him and starting to affect his eyesight and timing - after all, not everyone can go on into their late thirties. Most agreed that it would be a pity to see such a great batsman go on too long and become a figure of ridicule, and that maybe he should be given the opportunity of a swansong of a home series and go out on a relative high.

How wrong we were ........ had it not been for The Wall, India would have been completely on their arse this summer. In his last 7 Tests ( v West Indies & England ) he has made just over 700 runs at a shade under 65. It may not be quite FOHL, but he's certainly not past it yet.

Don't think it was a case of anyone questioning his hunger but certainly thought he was physically past it - his slip catching deteriorated with his batting.

His slip catching is still dodgy but in a similar way to Kallis who had a small dip he's got a basic technique that is as good as it gets and can always fall back on it.

You fear for the likes of Sehwag, when that slope comes, it will be downhill fast.

good to see dravid getting back into good test match form. it was indeed sad to see him being obviously carried in the team in the last 3-4 years. there was always the hope though that he has not totally lost it, but also no one really knew how to ask him if he wanted to retire. the failure of people like yuvraj, raina, etc probably helped him stay in a bit longer

sadly for him the rest of the line-up chose to lose form at the same time as he found his and his performance certainly didnt deserve a 4-0 drubbing. i can see him going on for another year or two. he might well retire against england late next year. he definitely deserves to go out on his own terms

Looks an entirely different player, he was increasingly tentative when playing the ball last year and I thought he was shot in the Saffie series... That seems to have left him. He's tha biz.

Aye. It's a Boycs' Bingo classic, but it's all in the foot movement. Dravid's has been excellent this series and everything else has fallen into place for him.

Classic player.

He's still got it! Of the big 3, it seems he's survived longer than Laxman, who looks to be ageing quicker than expected.

It's now down to Tendulkar and Dravid to carry India through this turbulent period. They are part of a receding backbone in India's batting order. Hopefully other players start coming through. Raina has a lot of work to do, but IMO can become one of the big guns in due course. Just needs time.

Dravid was the only bright light in a shocking series for India.

Kumar did okay.

Dhoni had his moments with the bat, but warmed up too late.

They badly missed someone to lead their attack.

Like a fit Zak.

Kumar apart (but he was only medium-ish), the bowling looked rudderless for most of the series. Unsparked. Lifeless.

Sreesanth looked podgy.

It's been a miserable tour. The Indian players who turned up were either aging and unlikely to carry on into even the medium term of 2-3 years (Dravid), gritty but, one feels, likely to be mediocre (Praveen Kumar) or in a department that was not their primary area of responsibility (Mishra, batting).

For my money, Raina looks to be out of the Test team for the foreseeable future. Mukund looks unfinished and am not sure if he will ever make it. Apart from PK, the rest of the bowlers were $hit. Ishant has reverted to dross more often than not and Sreesanth, well.

More caterwauling to follow.

Pull yourself together man.

Your country needs you to get out there and stand dignified.

Dravid's form proves you should never write a batsman off too soon. If an England player has a couple of bad series when much past 30 he's finished, his eyes have gone, he's unlikely to be seen again. But older players can have ups and downs of form just as younger ones can. Graham Gooch had the best year of his career at 37. A year earlier he had been destroyed by Terry Alderman. Perhaps he survived only due to others going on the rebel SA tour, but since those days it's become fashionable to write players off on the grounds of age. There's plenty of examples of why that's often a mistake.

I agree.

beamer wrote:Dravid's form proves you should never write a batsman off too soon. If an England player has a couple of bad series when much past 30 he's finished, his eyes have gone, he's unlikely to be seen again. But older players can have ups and downs of form just as younger ones can. Graham Gooch had the best year of his career at 37. A year earlier he had been destroyed by Terry Alderman. Perhaps he survived only due to others going on the rebel SA tour, but since those days it's become fashionable to write players off on the grounds of age. There's plenty of examples of why that's often a mistake.

It makes me wonder how long a batsman can go on in this day and age? Jack Hobbs scored nearly 2,500 Test runs at 58 after the age of 40. But I think the fitness and quality of the bowling has improved somewhat since then.

Who else has gone past 40 in recent years? Boycs made 999 runs at 38 facing the likes of Lillee and the Winter before the fearsome Windies pace attack, but that is 30 years ago so not a great example either.

Since the 1990s you've got very few over 40's playing Test cricket, from the batsmen there is:

Graham Gooch: 13 matches, 798 runs at 33.25
Alec Stewart: 7 matches, 276 runs at 27.60
Davey Houghton: 2 matches, 69 runs at 17.25

So all these players might have wished they'd given it up earlier.

As for other over 40s there are a few finger spinners - Hemmings, Emburey, Cook, Traicos and a politics assisted pick in Omar Henry. I thought Jayasuriya might have been on the list, but only in limited overs, his last Test was aged 38 and a half and his form with the bat also tailed off badly. So apart from barmy England selectors its not a common move.

But then watching India in this series their best batsman was Dravid, second was daylight and third Tendulkar. So maybe they can defy this trend? Is it a matter of the reactions deteriorating, or the hunger?

Dravid is 38 years and 223 days
Tendulkar is 38 years and 120 days
Laxman is 36 years amd 294 days

Will be fascinated to see if anyone can be a world class bat after 40. If anyone can do it then maybe its Dravid and Tendulkar?

Judging by the current supporting cast, India will still need them into their 40s.

Guess Stewart's still the last over 40 to play a Test then, not far off a decade ago now? I suppose many call it a day of their own accord after 10 or 15 years on the international treadmill. Not many have really tried to prove they still have it at that age in the modern era.

Oldest active Test players:

38 Dravid, Tendulkar
37 Misbah, Chanderpaul
36 Laxman, Hussey, Ponting, C Martin
35 Kallis, Price
34 Strauss, Dilshan, Samaraweera, M Jayawardene, Boucher, Prince

Quite a thin field even in terms of over 35s. Will be a while before 40-somethings make their mark on Test cricket again to a significant degree...

Brass Monkey wrote:He's tha biz.

The Farkin Dog's

Gary 111 wrote:But then watching India in this series their best batsman was Dravid, second was daylight and third Tendulkar. So maybe they can defy this trend? Is it a matter of the reactions deteriorating, or the hunger?

players with a solid technique like a tendulkar or dravid will probably find it easier than 'eye' players like laxman or sehwag. they also have better fitness levels than laxman or sehwag of course. i feel laxman has about a year left. sehwag not much longer the way he's going

similarly kallis will probably go on longer than ponting

doctorspin wrote:
The Farkin Dog's

Blimey, the doc's in the house! Good to see you.

beamer wrote:Dravid's form proves you should never write a batsman off too soon. If an England player has a couple of bad series when much past 30 he's finished, his eyes have gone, he's unlikely to be seen again. But older players can have ups and downs of form just as younger ones can. Graham Gooch had the best year of his career at 37. A year earlier he had been destroyed by Terry Alderman. Perhaps he survived only due to others going on the rebel SA tour, but since those days it's become fashionable to write players off on the grounds of age. There's plenty of examples of why that's often a mistake.

Was reading Barrington's cricinfo page the other day. States that his heart attack ended his career prematurely at the age of 37.

The One wrote:

Gary 111 wrote:But then watching India in this series their best batsman was Dravid, second was daylight and third Tendulkar. So maybe they can defy this trend? Is it a matter of the reactions deteriorating, or the hunger?

players with a solid technique like a tendulkar or dravid will probably find it easier than 'eye' players like laxman or sehwag. they also have better fitness levels than laxman or sehwag of course. i feel laxman has about a year left. sehwag not much longer the way he's going

similarly kallis will probably go on longer than ponting

What a load of bollocks ... the notably unsvelte Kallis will disappear in a pool of chicken fat before he's 37; Ponting relieved of the cares of captaincy COULD go on to 38 or 39 if his desire remains strong

lardbucket wrote:

The One wrote:

Gary 111 wrote:But then watching India in this series their best batsman was Dravid, second was daylight and third Tendulkar. So maybe they can defy this trend? Is it a matter of the reactions deteriorating, or the hunger?

players with a solid technique like a tendulkar or dravid will probably find it easier than 'eye' players like laxman or sehwag. they also have better fitness levels than laxman or sehwag of course. i feel laxman has about a year left. sehwag not much longer the way he's going

similarly kallis will probably go on longer than ponting

What a load of bollocks ... the notably unsvelte Kallis will disappear in a pool of chicken fat before he's 37; Ponting relieved of the cares of captaincy COULD go on to 38 or 39 if his desire remains strong

Not your best attempt at a windup.

that's probably because it's not a wind-up