Cracks in the Wall? - Here's the answer:

While searching through Google, I came across an article "Rahul Dravid: Cracks in The Wall?" at Rediff.com.The author had compared his past performances with recent ones, and straight away came to the conclusion that the Wall is cracking down.Even though Rahul had a forgettable 2008, I was amazed why people had started questioning his "wall"ish ability.


Today, Rahul proved that he is still the old, firm and dependable "Wall".He played 220 delieveries, spent 4 hrs at crease, without giving any opportuinity to the kiwis.The situation demanded his stay at the crease and he was doing it perfectly, until a poor umpiring decision sent him back to the pavillion.Ofcourse he was dissapointed, shaking his head when the appeal went up and opened his mouth in shock when the finger went up. He walked off quickly but kept shaking his head and hit the ground with his bat after a few steps.He knew he had to leave his team in an uncomfortable position.

That is something which really frustrates fans like me - our hero is playing so well, and suddenly a poor decision shatters our dreams(I was damn sure that Rahul would have played for full day, with a ton in his record).But, that's how cricket is - you have to accept such decisions like a gentleman!

Rahul misses another ton: India in deep trouble

It looks like Rahul is trying our patience.Today, when he was in full flow, looking set for a perfect ton, he got out off a pretty ordinary delivery from Ryder.With a massive 619 total to chase, it was necessary that one of the players plays an sheet-anchor role, making sure that he builds partnerships with others.Rahul was doing this job pretty well, but the match-hero Jesse Ryder shattered his dreams.
First, Rahul shared a little 25 run partnership with Gambhir before later gave his wicket away.Then came the little master.Both started playing like seniors and Kiwis had no choice but to wait patiently for one of them to make mistake.The partnership was crucial in deciding the fate of the match.Finally, Sachin made a mistake and a good 87 run partnership was broken.With a last hope for Team India, Very Very Special Laxman arrived at the crease.Rahul built a good 81 run partnership with him, but couldn't hold his nerves on a short delievery outside the off-stump.

After Rahul got out, Yuvraj and Karthik could not survive longer.Laxman, on the other hand, tried to put up a fight, but lost his patience when the wickets started falling quickly.
Kiwis have forced a Follow-on and look all set for a huge win.

Rahul will not lead BRC: Pietersen will replace him

Mr.Vijay Mallya has done it.Right from the end of 1st IPL season, he was targeting Rahul for the poor show by his team (or his "slaves"!).He is a businessman, who doesn't care whom he is trying to pointing at.What he wants is that his team should win every game, thus bringing in crores of $$ in his hand.He is great at business, but not that great in man handling.
As usual, Rahul didn't say anything.What he said was, "I can understand Mr.Mallya's frustration".Poor guy, isn't it? Gentlemen always keep their tongues under control.Rahul was the best example.

After getting Pietersen in his team, Mr.Mallya gave an hint of change of captaincy.And at last, he did it.KP will lead the team for a few matches at the start, and then the captaincy will be handed over to Kallis (one who is said to be the culprit behind the poor performance of team in 1st season).KP is a great player, no doubt about that.But he couldn't succeed as a captain of England's team.As far as Jaques Kallis is concerned, one can never doubt his abilities as a player.But the way he played in 1st season, one can easily conclude that he is not a T20 player.

“We were in consultation with Dravid and he had personal issues.He and his wife are expecting their child and no one knows when a baby is born and Rahul hinted at his likely unavailability. This decision was taken after extensive consultations with Rahul Dravid, and this was not an easy one. We have a wealth of talent and expertise in our team and had six international captains to choose from,” said Mallya while naming Pietersen as the captain for the first three weeks of his availability.

Pietersen said: “It is indeed a great privilege and honour to be asked to take over the captaincy from such a great player and friend Rahul Dravid. I am looking forward to his support and to working closely with him in mounting a successful Royal Challengers challenge.”

Good innings at the start of a series - Go Rahul, go!

In the 1st test match against New Zealand, Rahul scored a superb knock of 66 off 133 balls.Though he was looking all set for a ton, O'Brien came up with an excellent in-cutter to make sure he doesn't.
Although many of us might have missed his batting (including me) ,here is the collection of the text commentary of Rahul's boundaries, from Cricinfo.com:

12.3 Martin to Dravid, FOUR, Martin doesn't bowl to his field there, he errs by drifting on middle and leg and Dravid uses his wrists well and exploits the yawning gap at fine leg

13.2 Mills to Dravid, FOUR, Dravid chases a wide one and it's a positive result, the ball moves away after pitching and Dravid has to reach out a lot more but he gets enough bat on it to beat gully

20.2 O'Brien to Dravid, FOUR, that's a classic square cut, the ball is dropped too short and wide, he gets his elbows high and slices it just wide of gully

26.5 O'Brien to Dravid, FOUR, not the best of shots though, he hangs his bat out aiming to steer it to the off side but gets a thick outside edge which fortunately bisects the gap between second slip and gully

35.1 Martin to Dravid, FOUR, very delicately played, the ball lands outside off and angles away, Dravid doesn't have to move his feet much and all he does it wait for the ball and angle it away wide of gully

38.1 Vettori to Dravid, FOUR, lovely shot, not a very bad delivery, it's a fraction short but not wide, Dravid improvises by making room and slamming it past backward point

39.5 Martin to Dravid, FOUR, very controlled glide, he lunges forward to an incoming delivery and plays it with an angled bat and bisects the gap between second slip and gully

40.6 Mills to Dravid, FOUR, the ball is too straight and he whips it away with such ease that the ball simply races away past square leg, all timing

44.6 Mills to Dravid, FOUR, that's a poor delivery, a rank long hop outside the offstump and wide too, he stays at the crease, reaches out and bangs it past the covers

46.3 Mills to Dravid, FOUR, nice way to bring up his fifty, Mills errs by bowling it short and giving him the luxury of width, he feasts on it by slamming it square of the wicket on the offside

47.6 O'Brien to Dravid, FOUR, not a bad delivery but Dravid's in fine touch, the ball angles away from him and he leans forward, opens the face of the bat and steers it wide of gully

49.6 O'Brien to Dravid, FOUR, nice shot, the ball is overpitched outside off and Dravid leans forward and pushes it just wide of short cover, not sure if the fielder got a bad bounce

Century in practice match:

A great start for Rahul! In a practice match against Central Stags, he scored a ton (102 in 164 balls with 13 boundaries).
Here are some pics:

"It was a good game, I really enjoyed it and it was a good chance to bat and spend some time in the middle and also it was a good competitive game and it was disappointing not to win the game," Dravid said after the national championship match ended in a draw.
Asked about when he heard he was turning out for Canterbury, Dravid said: "About 48 hours before I left (India)."

"There was a bit of uncertainty about when we (India's test specialists) would come here and what was going to happen with the practice games, because of various issues. So I was asked to pack up and leave and play in a couple of days and it was good fun.

"It was a really good wicket, it started out a little slow and damp, but it didn't misbehave and it played well right through until the end of the game."

NewZealand tour: A challenge for Team India

For Indians, New Zealand has been a place left unconquered.They have proved themselves good in West Indies, Australia, South Africa (not convincingly though), Pakistan, SriLanka.The only place left is New Zealand, well known for it's deadly, bouncy wickets.Surviving on such pitches itself showshow good a batsman is.

Here is the record of Indians in New Zealand (last 2 tours).
Tour 1998-99:
ODI Records
Test Records

Tour 2002-03:
ODI Records
Test Records

Canterbury coach interview:

Rahul will be playing a practice match for Canterbury against Central Districts.This is the short interview of the Canterbury coach regarding the team's response to the entry of Rahul in their squad.

Canterbury coach Bob Carter :"I didn't really know what to expect, but it's been very pleasant to see how he's just walked into the team and got on with everyone,".

"He's very warm and he came to a team dinner last night at Two Fat Indians, that the boys put on, and he was great there. He's fitted in well and it's wonderful to have a great of the game playing with us and the boys look upon it as a really positive move and something to grab hold of.

"This is quite a unique situation and a lot of the boys have already come to me and talked about the great things they're seeing from him in the nets and I think he's enjoyed himself at our practice today."

With Peter Fulton in the New Zealand A team, which play the England Lions in a four-day match at Lincoln starting tomorrow, Dravid will occupy his usual spot at three in the batting order of a Canterbury team keen to turn their limited overs form into results in the longer version of the game.