I am playing in Ranji at team’s request: Dravid

Rahul Dravid said on Thursday that he decided to play for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy’s quarter-final against Saurashtra in Mumbai on the request of the state side and not from a personal point of view.
The batting great has come out of a pronounced run-slump in Tests with a century in the first innings in Mohali before coming Mumbai for the four-day on Friday.

“I was requested by the boys to play in this match. I am not playing from a personal point of view. It’s a important game and it’s good to be back playing for Karnataka,” Dravid said after a practice session at the Brabourne Stadium.

“We have a young side. I don’t know all of them very well, having not played with them for long. But hopefully we can put up a good performance,” said the former India skipper, who had played two matches earlier for Karnataka in the league phase of the tournament.

Dravid said the prolonged break from the international cricket grind for the Indian players would see them taking part in domestic cricket which, he felt, would be a good preparation for the battles lying ahead.

“The break from international cricket after the cancellation of the Pakistan tour (in wake last month’s terror strike in Mumbai) has given us an opportunity to play in domestic cricket though not all of us would be playing.”

“The Duleep Trophy (that follows) would also be a good preparation for the season ahead,” he said.

Dravid hits half century

MUMBAI: The penultimate day of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal between Karnataka and Saurashtra was eventful with Rahul Dravid making a half century, Sandeep Jobanputra taking five wickets and Ravindra Jadeja scalping four and 14 wickets falling in all.

At the Brabourne Stadium, after bowling out Saurashtra for 189, Karnataka were dismissed for 208 in their second innings. This left Saurashtra with a target of 325 with 93 overs in which to get the runs. At stumps they needed another 315 runs. However, they had lost two wickets.

Resuming at 180-8, Saurashtra were bundled out in 12 balls. Thereafter, it was Karnataka’s turn to pile on as many runs as possible and make Saurashtra bat on a Day Four wicket, which is sure to assist the seamers in the first session and spinners later on.

But in the process of setting a difficult target, Karnataka went off the rails. Karnataka had a horrible start losing three of their frontline batsmen - KB Pawan (0), captain Robin Uthappa (5) and CM Gautam (26) - with only 43 runs on the board.

Dravid then put all his powers of concentration to good use to stem the rot with a sedate but fluent 52.

Brief scores: Karnataka 305 & 208 (Dravid 52, Akhil 56; Jobanputra 5-54, Jadeja 4-58) vs Saurashtra 189 & 10-2 (Chauhan 6*; Vinay Kumar 2-1)

Dravid 'relieved' after regaining form

Mohali: Breathing easy after a career reviving ton, Rahul Dravid on Saturday said that the century he scored against England here would rank among the most significant knocks of his career.

"It's a quite significant knock, considering the form I was in coming into the match. It's one of the most significant hundreds I scored and I now just hope we go on to win this match," a visibly relieved Dravid told reporters here.

Dravid snapped a long string of poor shows with a knock of 136 and the right-hander said he felt relieved to get a huge monkey off his back.

"I'm definitely relieved and it's nice to be contributing again. It has been a tough year for me, nothing has been easy. It's nice to make important contributions," said the former captain who ran into a bad patch soon after the home series against South Africa.

True to his nature, Dravid's was a muted celebration as he just raised the bat and shook hands with Gautam Gambhir. He didn't even take off the helmet.

Asked if that was to hide his emotion or to make any statement, Dravid said, "I didn't try to make any statements. I was definitely happy and relieved. I guess I'm a bit old and wise, I don't jump around even when I'm excited. It was a combination of both relief and joy."

Dravid also took the opportunity to thank people who didn't lose trust in his ability. "I was surprised that so many people wanted me to do well. I mean if there was any positive out of the phase, this was it."

"It's during this time that you realise that so many people want you to do well. Some of the people didn't need to do that but still they supported me. I felt as if so many people have gone through the journey with me," he said.

Looking back at his bad patch, Dravid said it was only natural that lack of runs would invite criticism.

"It was only natural that there would be scrutiny and speculation. To be honest, I didn't have a great year and didn't score too many runs. It's only natural that people would speculate and raise questions about me. It was very tough time personally," he said.

Dravid, however, insisted there was no self-doubt at any stage. "In the last few months, including the series against Australia, I felt I was playing well, though I don't have the runs to prove that. There are certain ways I judge that like the way I bat in the nets, my position while batting, direction I play the ball in."

"Team-mates, (coach) Gary (Kirsten) and other people said everything was right about my batting. I too knew that in my gut but only the runs were not coming," he said.

"I knew it was just a matter of going out and spending some time. I knew I will turn around and it has happened," he said, heaving a sigh of relief.

Dravid said he looked at videos of some of his previous knocks and recreated the emotions. "I tried everything. Looked at a video of some of the good knocks and recreated the emotions.

"But in the last two series, I only enjoyed my sessions in the nets and tried to be as uncomplicated as possible. I decided to trust my instinct and just watch the ball," he said.

Talking about this knock, Dravid admitted it was not a flawless innings but crucial nonetheless. "As the innings went on, I grew in confidence and my feet started moving. I also could pick the ball better. It was a good testing spell by the English bowlers and we were lucky to come through that."

"Yesterday, Gautam (Gambhir) played a very good knock. He took the pressure off me by scoring at a quick rate and rotating the strike. I hope our (314-run) stand is potentially match-winning. We have set the platform to push for a win," he said.

One of the most significant tons I have scored: Dravid

Mohali (PTI): Breathing easy after a career reviving ton, Rahul Dravid on Saturday said that the century he scored against England here would rank among the most significant knocks of his career.

"Its a quite significant knock, considering the form I was in coming into the match. Its one of the most significant hundreds I scored and I now just hope we go on to win this match," a visibly relieved Dravid told reporters here.

Dravid snapped the long string of poor shows with a knock of 136 and the right-hander said he felt relieved to get a huge monkey off his back.

"Im definitely relieved and its nice to be contributing again. It has been a tough year for me, nothing has been easy. Its nice to make important contributions," said the former captain who ran into a bad patch soon after the home series against South Africa.

True to his nature, Dravids was a muted celebration as he just raised the bat and shook hands with Gautam Gambhir. He didnt even take off the helmet.

Asked if that was to hide his emotion or to make any statement, Dravid said, "I didnt try to make any statement. I was definitely happy and relieved. I guess Im bit old and wise, I dont jump around even when Im excited. It was a combination of both relief and joy."

Statistical highlights: 2nd Test, Day 1

Statistical highlights on the opening day of the second Test between India and England on Friday.

Rahul Dravid's ninth Test fifty against England is his 54th overall. Friday's innings is his first half-century after eight innings.

Dravid's tally of 54 half-centuries is exceeded only by Australia's Allan Border (63).

Gautam Gambhir's outstanding knock of 106 not out off 229 balls is his first hundred against England -- his fourth in Test Cricket. He has posted three hundreds in India and the remaining one on foreign soil.

Gambhir has taken his run-aggregate this year to 964 in eight Tests at an average of 68.85, including three hundreds and five fifties.

Gambhir has registered two successive centuries at Mohali. In his previous innings against Australia at this venue, he had made 104 in 2008-09.

When his score reached 20 during his innings of 65 not out, Dravid became the first batsman to make 8,000 runs at No.3 position -- 8045 in 167 innings at an average of 53.99.

Gambhir and Dravid were associated in a stand of 173 runs (unfinished) for the second wicket -- India's highest for the said wicket at Mohali, eclipsing the 105 (undefeated) between Virender Sehwag and Dravid against England in 2005-06. The aforesaid stand is India's highest for any wicket against England at Mohali, surpassing the 136 between Deep Dasgupta and Rahul Dravid for the third wicket in 2001-02.

The previous best stand for the second wicket at Mohali was 151 between Mark Richardson and Scott Styris for New Zealand in 2003-04.

Experimentation key to regain form: Anand to Dravid

World chess champion Viswanathan Anand on Friday felt out-of-form Rahul Dravid ought to experiment with his technique to regain lost touch.

Anand said he had first hand experience of losing form and overcoming it in his initial days and could empathise with the former India captain.

The chess ace said he was shocked to discover that he just could not strike form in the 2000 Dortmund tournament after a successful run that year.

"Once I started doing badly I thought of drawing my remaining games," Anand said, hinting that the defensive strategy did not work.

"What I did after Dortmund was that I kept on experimenting for 7-8 months. In that period also I could not really recover as I was experimenting only randomly. It was just very difficult. (But) perhaps that will help him recover faster," he said in reply to a query.

Anand, who recently defeated Russia's Vladimir Kramnik to retain his World Championship title in Bonn, Germany, was visiting the capital for the first time after his extraordinary feat of winning the honour in all three formats of game -- knock-out, round-robin and matchplay.

Anand, requested to say a few words about former cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, playing the last first-class game, said, "It must be funny to know this is your last match. (Garry) Kasparov had said the same thing. The rest of the world would be looking back but you have to sit and play or stand and play in his (Ganguly's) case," he said.

"It's an end to a wonderful career, which he could justifiably be proud of," Anand added.

On his interaction with current India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni in Chennai during the felicitation ceremony organised by the All India Chess Federation, Anand said he perceived the cricketer as very "warm" and "playful".

Anand was presented a diamond ring by Dhoni on behalf of the AICF.

"It was a brief meeting. But I think he was very playful. Before he presented the ring to me he said 'I hope Bhabhi (Aruna) will allow me to present you this ring'.

"He came across as a very warm person," he added.

Asked what he told Dhoni, the World Champion in Twenty20 cricket, Anand said, "just two words -- 'Good Luck'. Because it was a very brief interaction".

Gambhir, Dravid grind England on Day 1

Under the poor light conditions in Mohali, India batsmen Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid combined for the second wicket and had an unbeaten 173-run stand to take India's score to 179/1 at the close of first day's play at the PCA Stadium. A delayed start and early close saw the loss of 18 overs as 72 overs were bowled out of the required 90 overs.

Electing to bat first, India got early blow in the form of opener Virender Sehwag's wicket. The Indian opener, who was the architect of India's epic win in Chennai, failed to give India a good start and departed for a naught.

England pacer Stuart Broad, who came in place of Steve Harmison, pitched one outside the off-stump. Sehwag played it on the drive but an outside edge saw keeper Matt Prior take a comfortable catch behind the wicket.

Sehwag's dismissal saw an out-of-form Rahul Dravid in action in the third over. India's no. 3 batsman, who's had a dismal run this year, looked a bit shaky in the beginning. But he slowly gained ground and took a sigh of relief with a composed half-century that was his first in the last nine innings.

Dravid, who averages 28 this year in comparison to his career average of 52, gave a much needed boost to his average and most importantly his confidence when he struck 54th Test fifty, his ninth against England.

In-form Indian opener Gambhir, however, continued with his purple catch and slammed the fourth Test hundred, his first against England. This was also his second consecutive century at the PCA Stadium. He had made 104 runs against Australia in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

India: MS Dhoni (Captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma.

England: Kevin Pietersen (Captain), Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Matt Prior, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann.

India ponder Dravid batting spot for second England test

Rahul Dravid walks back towards the pavilion after his dismissal on the final day of their first test cricket match against England in Chennai in this December 15, 2008

India to stick with Dravid at number three

India are expected to resist the temptation to drop struggling batsman Rahul Dravid down the order as they attempt to seal a series victory over England in the final Test.

India's former captain has scored only two half-centuries in his last 19 Test innings and although he was retained in the top bracket of India's central contracts for the next year, his future at the top level remains in doubt.

"VVS (Laxman) could bat at No 3 and Dravid could come down to No 5, but there is always a chance that if VVS gets a good ball and goes early then we could be three down and that would put extra pressure on Rahul," explained captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. "We are not worried about Rahul's form. No-one can question his talent - he just needs to get past the 30-run mark and get a start."

India are expected to name an unchanged line-up at a ground where they trounced Australia by 320 runs in the second Test in October and where leg-spinner Amit Mishra claimed seven wickets on his debut.

Dravid's time to take a call

NEW DELHI: A memorable victory isn't a good time to nitpick, but India's

recent success has come in spite of a crucial cog in the wheel coming unstuck. Rahul Dravid's poor form at No. 3 is clearly hurting the team. The unit's newly-acquired self-belief has failed to rub off on him.

Dravid seems increasingly isolated by failure in a side riding the adrenaline rush of fresh conquest. Since relinquishing the captaincy - and for a while before - it has been a steep downward curve. Skipper and coach seem reluctant to experiment with moving him down the order and that has not helped either.
Few are willing to take a call, though, on what lies ahead for one of the most cerebral, dependable batsmen of this generation.

Dravid has carved epic victories with mathematical precision and monkish calm so goodwill hasn't deserted him. He has been retained in Grade A at an annual retainership of Rs 60 lakh.

The team management is in denial mode, chirruping constant encouragement. Dravid is a modern great, and everyone assumes it's a matter of just one knock. But goodwill doesn't last forever.

Recently, Dravid has seldom looked in control, poking away at deliveries or pushing too hard, succumbing to rookie spinners, losing his calm, freezing his feet at the wrong moments, conjuring all his effort and intensity into compiling mere starts.

For the first time in a calendar year, his average has fallen below 30. At times, his rock-solid defence looks awry. Even knocks like the one at Perth, the ton against SA, or some good Ranji scores have not been harbingers of a return to the sort of Dravid the team needs. It has gone beyond mere poor form.

His competitors are gaining on him. The Grade B stars - the born-again Suresh Raina, the classy but raw Rohit Sharma and S Badrinath, the most obvious, experienced replacement - are breathing down Dravid's neck.

Cheteshwar Pujara, in Grade D, has been in the form of his life but untested at this level. Badrinath brings solid technique and sound temperament and is a much-improved strokeplayer. But none of these names can really fill a Dravid's shoes.

After single-digit scores in his last four innings, it may finally be time for Dravid himself to take a call on where he stands, and where he intends to go from here. Are there newer milestones to conquer? Demons to exorcise? Points to prove? Has the schoolboy enthusiasm for the game, so crucial for long-term success - just look at Tendulkar - waned a bit? Most importantly, can the mind be set right when fear of failure gnaws at the gut?

Every once in a while, even a batsman lauded for impeccable technique needs to ditch the science and rediscover the art and joy of batting.

Rahul Dravid's dubious record
Rahul Dravid has earned a dubious distinction with his dismissal on 4 in the second innings on Monday. For the first time in his career, he has registered single digit scores in four successive innings - 0 & 3 vs. Australia at Nagpur and 3 & 4 vs.England at Chennai.

Since the 2002 Headingley Test (52.76) against England, Dravid's career average (52.12) is the lowest ever.

Since relinquishing the captaincy, Dravid's country-wise Test record is as under:

Opponents	T	I	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	S.Rate	100	50	0
Australia	8	15	1	357	93	25.50	34.86	0	3	1
SA	3	5	1	178	111	44.50	36.10	1	0	0
England	1	2	0	7	4	3.50	16.27	0	0	0
Sri Lanka	3	6	0	148	68	24.66	41.34	0	1	0
Pakistan	3	6	1	191	50	38.20	42.53	0	1	0
Total	18	34	3	881	111	28.41	37.22	1	5	1
Home	11	20	2	496	111	27.55	39.39	1	2	1
Away	7	14	1	385	93	29.61	34.74	0	3	0
Last 10 Tests	10	19	1	342	68	19.00	38.99	0	2	1