What an "un-spirited" response by team India in the first test! Demolished by Murali and Mendis. I for one, thought the four legends would put up a better fight against Sri Lanka in the second innings. They did not even last 50 overs :-(
The reckless shots of many players can be questioned, and when it is compounded by poor bowling, fielding and clueless batting, it is hard to find any bright spots from this match. I watched the match live on TV only on Sat, and saw more than twelve wickets in a span of few hours.
I am most concerned about Dravid. I don't hold him responsible for this loss, but I hate to see "The Wall" become a straw wall - you huff and puff and it is blown away. Ever since he stepped down from captaincy he has struggled with his form and his confidence. Both seems to be pulling down each other further (without form he cannot get back his confidence and vice versa ---chicken and egg ?). He looks ill-at-ease on the crease and for someone who has held down the fort at one end consistently for so many years, it is sad to see him struggle. Even when he made runs, he did not have the old confidence.
So what can he do to get himself out of the slump? In the past, has he struggled over a long stretch? Is it "in the mind"? He needs to rectify this fast or he may be first one of the four to be sidelined from tests as well. And as a fan of Dravid, I want him to get back to days of glory (possible?), and then retire from tests in style (when he decides), and not by being dropped.
(PS: I am not calling for him to retire or be dropped - only for him to find a remedy for his form asap).
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About Me
- RS
- A female sports fan based in Chennai. Follow most sports (except boxing, wrestling and similar ones). Tried my hand at all the sports I watch, and am not very good at any of them :-) So the opinions/thoughts are strictly and unashamedly as a viewer/fan and not an expert. I also blog at ipl08
15 comments:
There is no remedy. He is 'history' like the Berlin Wall. :)
@ottayan - for his sake I hope not. Who would have thought we would be using berlin wall and straw wall for Dravid :-(
he gotta let it out. and not just when he scores 10k. it's unnatural to keep it all bottled up.
@nc - maybe be needs to think of the time when he first started out - forget 10K, forget captaincy, forget Mallya...
NC,
Maybe he should smoke a weed. :)
rs - he has, and with it forgotten some more!
ott - a night out with yuvi, nehra and bhajji.
tho i reckon he'll settle for a sit down dinner with sehwag n family. "Viru, could you pls pass the butter chicken"
NC,
There is no hope, then?
it certainly pains to see one of the stalwarts of indian cricket getting reduced to this...
i think he needs to sort this out quickly before the demons of axe start hanging on his neck to add more pressure...
its about team india...and not rehabilitation of dravid...when there are no sign of it...a review of his worth (along with SG's) must be made after this series...
i mentioned SG coz in all this attention of sachin, sehwag and dravid...he his quietly slipping out...
SP,
SRT - he cannot be touched.
Sehwag- We expect more from him than he himself does.
Dravid: I empathize with him... It is about team India and therefore I think he may be the first to lose his place if he does not do well in this series. So looking for a double hundred in the next match from him :-)
SG: he no longer elicits responses (positive & negative) the way he used to do - so maybe diminishing interest?
Aha! RS, I've finally found your blog from SP's little new gadget. For some reason, when I clicked on your name, I wasn't able to get to your profile. Btw, adding you to my blogroll.
Anyway, yes, I share your concern of Dravid (and I've been repeating myself in almost everyone's blog) :) abt this). Chicken-and-egg problem indeed. Captaincy, Chappell-era-conspiracy theories, ODI sacking, IPL and Mallya have nearly ruined him. Hope it isn't beyond repair. For his own sake he needs to buck up and soon. The BCCI might sack him if not. The "need-to-keep-wickets" story is a huge red flag for Dravs and its unfurled fully now. God save hiim! I join you in awaiting his double ton.
@NC, pass the butter chicken, Viru. Hilarious. :)
Before the first test, Straight Point wrote an article about the abnormal media hype Mendis was getting .
In my opinion all that hype was the part of the mind games that most teams play these days before the actual game.
Commneting on the post, I pointed to the fact that Rahul Dravid though a fine player is awful when it comes to playing mind games. He has become more hopeless in these contests of late.
The reason, as you rightly pointed to, could be his declining confidence.
It's up to Dravid to see how he regains his confidence and form,but the Indian team management should see that no player, who himself is struggling with his form
should be allowed to respond to the verbal volleys of the opposition. A poor or no-confident response in such mental contests, affects the morale of the entire team.
@vmm - thanks. no idea why the profile link does not work. Aren't we Dravid fans, finding it hard to to defend him? Lets hope he recovers really soon.
@a bisht - not sure if Dravid's form/morale is impacting the others... if the players were inexperienced, I can understand that. Conversely if SRT, VVS, SG or Viru had held their nerve and performed exceptionally well, maybe Dravid would have gotten confidence.
a bisht - like the dravid-mind games angle you ref too. Thought it was a tad out of character, even tho he didn't say much - rd and the press, strange bed fellahs.
@RS, you're welcome. And yes, we are.
@NC, yeah, me too, thought that was a bit out-of-character for RD. Who are they copying on this - getting the struggling guy do the verbal volleys? What a lame idea!
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