Rahul Dravid, are you listening?
Thinking about this month’s featured reader comment, I thought of writing a post about the aftermath of this whole Mallaya – Dravid farce. Here it is:
Considering the amount of money Dr. Vijay Mallaya has, it would not have been impossible for him to buy some better players. What I am trying to say is not that he should have interfered in the selection of the players, but that he had the cash to buy some other players.
“My biggest mistake was to abstain from the selection,” he said. “I had a separate list of players but since Dravid is such an iconic player I trusted his judgment. And Charu Sharma also backed him. I was very tempted to bid for players whom I wanted but they held me back. I backed them thinking they advised me properly. Obviously, things have turned out differently. Unfortunately in cricket, unlike in any other sport, the captain is the boss.”
But, is the team bad? I don’t think so. Consider this list, and don’t think about their IPL Stats:
- Kallis : Best All Rounder in the world
- Dale Steyn : Best Bowler in the world
- Mark Boucher : One of the most successful Wicket Keepers in the world
- Misbah ul Haq : The best T20 player (or one of the best)
- Anil Kumble : India’s most successful bowler
And many more distinguished players. Where Rahul Dravid went wrong was in thinking that the IPL is a Test Match tournament.
Let us now talk about the players Mallaya wanted and how Dravid refused them:
Mallaya: MS Dhoni
Dravid : he is too expensive ( I am tempted to laugh at this)
Mallaya : Mc Cullum
Dravid : No, we’ll take Boucher
And the rest, as they say, is history. Kallis though, seemed confident about Bangalore’s chances for next season! He needs to be reminded that he really did not justify his $900,000 paycheck.
Photo: Newscom
Don’t forget they’ve got Ross Taylor, who (if he wasn’t playing for his nation) would probably be in the middle order.
Assuming they had Taylor, I’d seriously consider dropping Boucher, giving Dravid the gloves and playing Taylor + Misbah in the middle order – but that’s just crazy talk right now.
I think Boucher could be used further up the order for them right now, which would let him construct his innings a bit more.
The statement by Kallis shows cricketers are yet to understand they are accountable and excuses are unacceptable.
it remains to be seen if the players mallya is talking about are sacked or not, considering that the players were signed for a two year contract.
Curry : well, yeah! those could be the only options left for the next season. Or maybe buying more players…Indian Domestic Players have a 1 yr contract and could be bought next year.
ottayan : Precisely my point. Thank You
Mr. Ankit Poddar : 3 yr contract, i think…
ask me for more: http://www.sixandout.net/ask-sixandout
I have a feeling that Kallis has lost a lot of ODIs for South Africa through his slow batting, which puts pressure on others to lift the run rate. His Test record speaks for itself but I reckon he is much less effective in ODIs and is unsuited to the T20 game
2 yr 3 yr, u get my point. now mallya does a u turn,
for now he backs his team, he thinks they can still win the remaining matches and win the second round.
comments?!
alan: quite true….a legend in tests, tad slow in ODIs…even ODIs are a tad slow
Ankit : not possible…tell him to study Math 101
i think rahul dravid pick good player like mishba-ul-hak, ross taylor, camroon white, mark boucher, virat kholi, pravin kumar, zahir khan but these player goes out of form at right moment. also, some badluck goes with dravid.
yeah…i agree….
non performance is the keyword here
I can realize the feeling of Dr. Vijay Mallaya. However, still Mr. Mallaya should remember that cricket is not something like expanding business portfolio. It is cricket, it is T20, where uncertainty is common-a-thing. Because of this uncertainty people remain awake till late night, even knowing that they must reach the office by 9 Am next morning. Bangalore Royal Challengers has more than a balanced side, considering the players you mentioned in the article and some other players who could not take part in the competition.
Who did know that Rajasthan would be the first semi finalist of IPL? Rather, there were many who (excluding me) had kept Rajasthan out of their list even before the tournament started. Can you sense how different the reality is?
If Mr. Mallaya is that much emotional with the performance of Bangalore Royal Challengers, then why he is not opening a cricket academy in Bangalore (like R&D center in business) which would produce the future stars of Bangalore Royal Challengers and serve the side in future, as the players like Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes are doing so for Manchester United in club football, who started their career in the youth side of Manchester United. In fact, the cricket academy would help Indian cricket too.