Fighting 76 : And guess what? He gets criticism

"Because of his poor calls, Indians saw 2 run-outs"........
"Because of him, the other batsmen were under pressure".....
"He was the reason why India lost the match".........
and the criticism goes on "........he should retire from ODIs"

But the question is: Wasn't he doing what he was supposed to do? Remember what MS Dhoni had said after Rahul Dravid's re-inclusion in ODI team - "He is the one around whom the innings shall be built".


When Sachin got out early, it was quite clear that Rahul Dravid will have to play till the end (because only Sachin and Rahul have ability to do that).Gambhir was looking superb in his short and scary stay.He used all those "free hits" and put the seamers under pressure.The scorecard read: 84/1 in 13.0 overs. And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, Gambhir threw his wicket away in a run-out drama.The call was "NO" from Rahul who would have been running at the danger end, but Gambhir looked a bit too energetic to try for the run.He didn't even try to come back to crease and was gone due to a direct hit (I'm sure he would have made it had he grounded the bat).
Point is: it was Gambhir's mistake.
Virat Kohli was looking confident, but couldn't resist himself and went on to loft the ball over to mid-off.
MS Dhoni never looked comfortable and was back to pavillion with cheap LBW.
The match was now over.On the other end, Rahul Dravid needed someone who can scare the opponent with big hits. Suresh Raina was in a mood to thrash the bowlers and he started doing that perfectly.He hit Umer Gul for a six and a four is the same over.Rahul was rotating the strike and exposing Raina to Paki attack.This pair brought the required rate down to 6 RPO with 100 runs required.
But Raina could not hang on till the end and got LBW on a quicker one from Ajmal.Yusuf Pathan failed and went back with single digit score on his name.The game was over.
Later on, Rahul Dravid got run-out when he was trying to get 3rd run.

It's a do or die situation for Team India.They have to defeat Aussies and West Indians.The matches are scheduled on 28th and 30th resp.

Interesting stats: Rahul Dravid tops the table in South Africa

9 half centuries in 17 ODIs, that too against the best teams in the world.Wow!

Rahul Dravid: Overall ODI and test stats

ODI stats (in terms of average):

Clearly, after 1998, he has been consistently performing.He was at his best in 2002 and 2005.He was dropped from ODI team in 2007 and is back in 2009.


Test stats (in terms of average):

As far as test matches are concerned, there is no need to prove his greatness.He was in tremendous form in 2003 when he made the English bowlers sweat for his wicket.Only year when he looked a bit out-of-form was 2008 (he was dropped from ODIs).

Corporate trophy: Another half century from Rahul Dravid:

Against the Air India Red team, Rahul scored another fine 60+ (66 from 72 balls) knock.Badrinath too continued his form scoring 91 from 110 balls.

Brief scorecard:
India Cements: 243/9 (47.0 overs)
BSNL: 244/3 (43.0 overs)
Man of the Match: Suresh Raina
Read the full coverage by Cricinfo.com here.
Man of the Match: Suresh Raina

BCCI corporate trophy: Rahul Dravid scores 63

In the game against BSNL, Rahul scored 63 (77 balls) to contribute in the victory for India Cements.S.Badrinath was the top scorer with 90 (108 balls).
Brief scorecard:
India Cements: 253/5 (47.0 overs)
BSNL: 228/9 (47.0 overs)

Read the full coverage by Cricinfo.com here.

Man of the Match: S.Badrinath

The next game for India Cements is scheduled against Air India Red on 3rd September.

Sachin welcomes Rahul back:

Senior Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar feels Rahul Dravid's inclusion after close to two years has added "value" to the ODI team and his experience would come in handy during the tri-series in Sri Lanka and the subsequent Champions Trophy in South Africa.

"It should help the team. He brings in a lot of experience on the table and also a lot of skill. I think his will be good value addition to the team," Tendulkar said.

Tendulkar said the team is fitter and hungrier after wrapping up a four-day training camp in Bangalore to prepare for the tri-series in Sri Lanka, where New Zealand is the third team.

"The camp has ended on a positive note and the team looks pretty solid and hungry. Sri Lanka is one place which is not very free scoring," he said.