Back to the basics!

You can plan to do it, you may almost do it but you can never actually do it and what I mean here is ‘destroying’ the ‘Wall’; The inclusion of Rahul Dravid in the ODI’s is a prime example of how life brings everyone at par ,as they say back to the basics; No one in the BCCI administration left a stone unturned in proving an innocent a victim and sending him off from an arena which truely belonged to him; It is surprising how unforgiving and thankless one can become at times, We loved him for his exclusive timing and gorgeous cover drives; We celebrated when he single handedly brought victory to India on countless occasions but unlike other ‘Heroes’ he always stood in silence, playing a sheet anchor role providing solidarity to the much needed partnership or playing a second fiddle when a ‘Superhero’ needed someone to rotate strike at the other end, he quietly clapped and congratulated batsman around for sending the ball all over the park

Then came in the young brigade who did fantastically well to deserve a spot in the final XI however selectors somewhere erred in their judgement when they almost replicated the T20 team for ODI’s, while the former version allows a lot of youngsters to go all out against the attack and where a score of 30+ is considered a top performance, the later version requires much more stability and perseverance and that is where a player of Dravid’s calibre is a dire need; The exclusion of Dravid after October 2007 did make a strong case as the young brigade had been doing exceptionally well and just 80 runs from 10 innings didn’t help Dravid’s cause
However soon after his exclusion, the foundation for his comeback was getting laid; Middle order couldn’t bear the pressure and despite of young talent present in the form of Raina and Sharma, the consistency was always an issue; In the recently concluded T20 world cup, the middle level surrendered meekly to bouncy deliveries from West Indies, a weakness which was further explored and exposed by England. Lack of stability in the middle order forced the captain Dhoni to deviate from his usual explosive style of batting and adopt the style which usually is not associated with him, Sehwag’s injury also worked as a catalyst for Dravid’s comeback however credit must be given to the selection committee headed by Srikkanth for taking a sincere decision which may well be put to use for short term though a lot will depend on Dravid’s performance in the upcoming tri series and champions trophy about his prospects to be a part of 2011 World Cup XI
Knowing Dravid, he would grab this opportunity with both hands and with Sachin back in to the team, Indian cricket lovers will once again get to see the legends back in to the action for we may never know when do we get to witness it again
Welcome back Rahul, and make sure for all the bowlers around the world, the writing is on the wall!