Cricket News - Include Rahul Dravid in Indian ODI team: Wasim Akram
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wasim-Akram-c96292 has called for the inclusion of veteran Indian batsman Rahul Dravid in the Indian ODI side, since he believes that Dravid still has a lot of cricket left in him. Rahul Dravid, he believes, can provide the relatively young side with the much needed confidence they require during International tours.
"Dravid still has a lot to offer in ODIs. I believe that Dravid should be brought back into the (one-day) team. In the sub-continent, the current batsmen can do well, but on the overseas tours, India need a solid and experienced batsman like Dravid," Akram said.
Wasim Akram, since retiring from cricket, has worked as a sports commentator for ESPN, Star Sports and other channels. Akram was appointed as the bowling coach consultant of Kolkata http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Irfan-Pathan-c1601 and others. He is also responsible for the signing of the Pakistani domestic fast bowler Mohammad Irfan for the Indian club.
Wasim is also said to have criticised the Indian bowling attack, which he has termed as “lazy”.
"Look at Munaf Patel, (S) Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan and RP Singh. They all were very promising in the beginning. They had everything a bowler needs. Now you look at them. They have waned, for reasons beyond me," Akram said.
He felt that the reason for their disappearance is the packed schedule of the Indian cricket team that gives little respite to the Indian players. He observed that while India is at the top of the rankings for Tests and amongst the top three for ODIs, a jam-packed cricket schedule would only start the undoing of what is otherwise a great side.
Rahul Dravid is the 6th player in International cricket to have scored more than 10,000 runs in One-Day cricket after Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly. He is also the first and only batsman to score a century in all ten Test playing cricket nations. With a batting average touching almost 40 in ODI cricket, he has all the characteristics to become a key player for the Indian side and serve as a crutch for the Indian middle order.
Rahul Dravid has been excluded from the ODI team of India to pave way for youngsters while he is still an integral part of India’s Test squad. The Indian team is truly a world class team; however, with the advent of youngsters, the Indians have struggled to find consistency with star performances by individual players like Sehwag and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028 that help the team win. This might be a very unstable combination, and Indian bowlers have not been able to settle in the team as well, with bowlers like Irfan Pathan and RP Singh nowhere to be seen.
Players like Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar are from a rare breed of world class cricketers who have helped India achieve glory on numerous occasions. Dravid is also known as the wall for Indian cricket, giving their middle order stability for many years. The decision by the BCCI to leave him out of the ODI squad could draw parallels to the PCB’s decision of leaving out Mohammad Yousuf from ODIs till he was recently called back.
Wasim felt that the current players can do well in the subcontinent; however, on overseas tours, they would most certainly require the expertise of experienced players like Rahul Dravid.
Players like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750.
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