Rahul Dravid deserves better

Indian cricket begins its home season by showing disrespect to one of its most honourable torch-bearers. Rahul Dravid has always done everything asked of him, including in the last five one-day games he played in. And now he has fallen prey to a whimsical hire and fire policy. I hope there are a few people feeling embarrassed by what they have done because otherwise we are in for more bad news.

By picking Rahul Dravid for Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy, the selectors had sent out a clear signal that they were unhappy with the younger players. I don't think they saw enough in five games to change that perception. Meanwhile Dravid scored runs, played the role that assigned to him and did nothing to suggest that he didn't belong in a one-day game. So either the selectors were wrong to pick him last month or they are wrong to drop him now.

Maybe they were picking horses for courses hoping Dravid's superior ability would be handy in South Africa. And maybe they have gone horses for courses again by picking free-striking nimble players in home conditions. If that is indeed true, and it seems obvious, it is sending a terrible signal to the young guns in the squad; that it is okay to play only in favourable conditions and that you don't really need to learn how to play elsewhere. I worry about a system that encourages such thought and devalues superior all-round players.

I also think the selectors need to think about whether they are undermining one of India's finest ever team players; someone who opened when no one else wanted to, kept wickets when the team needed him to. We have to, at all times, make the distinction between a selfless team player and another who might seek to fatten his numbers. And with all India's cricket due to be played in home conditions over the next six months, we will not learn too much more about the ability of the younger players to adapt.

That is why Suresh Raina had to be number three in South Africa. But if indeed he was assessed and found inadequate, then he must bide his time. The future belongs to him, to Rohit Sharma, to Virat Kohli but for that these young men have to prove that they can play anywhere; like Dravid did, like Laxman and Ganguly did. You cannot treat Rahul Dravid like a dish you might have ordered wrongly, then have a spoonful and send it back. And that is why, in spite of being a great admirer of his, I hope he doesn't allow this to happen to him again. He deserves better. We have used flimsy scales to weigh a man of steel.

Meanwhile India continues to confound world cricket. If India has to drive the world cricket market, then Indian teams need to play till the last stage. Otherwise viewership tails off, sponsors either pull out or demand more and in course of time revenue drops. It's a peculiar situation where world cricket, and individual nations, will benefit from the revenue that India brings in and yet that revenue could be jeopardised in future if they keep beating India! We have seen that over three high profile events in the last five months. Now either India needs to get more consistent or money will start finding its way towards events where every match is a home game for some Indian constituency. It is tricky situation especially in the light of what happened at the Champions Trophy and the Champions League, two outstandingly organised, and promoted, events where Indian interest ended early.

I've loved the enthusiasm at the Airtel Champions League. The best teams made the semi-final and there are two reasons that come to mind straightaway for the poor performance of the Indian franchises. First, and this is something we have to admit straightaway, the average first class player in Australia or South Africa is better than his counterpart in India and, I suspect, has a superior work ethic. And second, teams like Trinidad and Tobago and the NSW Blues, or even the Diamond Eagles for that matter, played like it mattered more to them. But this is a tournament with legs and I see it growing as viewers get to know players from other lands better.

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