Criticism on Dravid unwarranted

From Cricinfo.com...

Bhupinder Singh Sr, the North Zone representative in India's selection committee, has come down hard on Rahul Dravid, saying that his "mind was not on the game" during India's recent tour against South Africa.

This was only the second time in his career that Dravid had gone thorough a three-Test series without managing a half-century, ending with a poor average of 20.83. "I just feel that Dravid's mind was not on the game," Bhupinder told Mid-Day, a Mumbai-based tabloid. "Maybe the poor form of the top order was affecting his confidence. We all know what he is capable of and lack of runs from his bat definitely wasn't helping our cause.

"Dravid is like a bedrock on which our batting revolves. He looked a far cry from the kind of batsmanship we are used to seeing from him. In fact, the whole batting department was a big disappointment."

Former India allrounder Roger Binny was also disappointed with Dravid's efforts. "Rahul has been one of our batting mainstays over the years," he told the same paper. "I have never seen him struggle like he did in South Africa. He seemed to get himself into a rut. In our playing days, we had Sunil Gavaskar, who would go on to play a long innings once he is well settled. Ditto for Dravid. If he gets his eye in, he's difficult to get rid off. But he was really struggling in South Africa."

What nonsense! Agreed, the batting on the whole, was exposed by the South African bowlers, but it wasn't easy going for the South African batsmen either. All 3 games resulted in 3 outcomes, and the bowlers on both sides caused the most damage and held the upper hand throughout most of the sessions.

It was a tough series. They battled hard, won their first test match in South Africa, and that on its own is a remarkable achievement. India, or any other team, can't be expected to win every single test match they ever play. It's a sport, and the team that wins sessions wins the test match, and South Africa dominated several sessions in the 2nd and 3rd test match.

Its a bit silly to blame the best batsman in the side for his not scoring like he usually does. An average is an average after all. He will sometimes score higher, sometimes lower. He will get bowled on 0 once in a while. Dravid has time and again, rescued India and been the team anchor for the past few years. He had a bad series, and he will surely pull out of it. Everyone is entitled to an off series.

I'm also not too impressed with how the Indian selectors are communicating their skewed views through the media. Its irresponsible. Secondly, how is their advice constructive? Shall they rest Dravid for the next few series? Lets him contemplate life and his batting? Everyone knows it was the entire team's batting in the end that made the difference. It was on South African tracks away from home. Those are tough series and poor performance during it can't be the basis for criticism for someone of Dravid's calibre. It has to be a string of performances. If anything, Sehwag and Tendulkar's roles need to be re-evaluated.