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:

1. Kallis : Best All Rounder in the world
2. Dale Steyn : Best Bowler in the world
3. Mark Boucher : One of the most successful Wicket Keepers in the world
4. Misbah ul Haq : The best T20 player (or one of the best)
5. 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

Post from: EveryJoe

Rahul Dravid, are you listening?