Dravid retires from ODI and T20: Surprising? Says who
Birmingham: The last time he returned home from England, he had resigned as India skipper. This time, he's relinquished the ODI cap that was handed to him at a time when his career in the shorter format of the game was thought to be over. There is something for Rahul Dravid in England.
So why has he quit ODIs, something which can easily lead to a higher price in the Indian Premier League (IPL)? He was bought for $500,000 in the IPL auction by Rajasthan Royals. If he was a regular member of the ODI team, his price would have been double, if not four times more.
Dravid's target has been to prolong his international career rather than increase his IPL value. On Saturday, he declared he was retiring from Twenty20 Internationals as well. At 38, he is not getting any younger and his ageing body may not withstand the rigours of the international cricket if he were to play ODIs as well.
There is little rest for players like MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, who play all formats of the game. Unless they are injured, they would have to play non-stop for the next 10 months, one series followed by another, immediately followed by yet another. Sachin Tendulkar, who plays ODIs too, picks and chooses series.
Dravid may not had that luxury if he continued to play ODIs. This effectively means there is this perennial danger of suffering injuries that could jeopardise his international career.
But the question is: why did he choose to announce his retirement on the day he was recalled? There is very little indication from the player himself about the timing of his announcement but sources in the selection committee and the BCCI say the player was not too happy for being selected without being consulted.
He was spoken to by the selectors only after the selection was done. He had no prior information over the selectors' plan. Skipper MS Dhoni, too, did not inform him.
It's learned that Dravid never expected to be picked for the ODIs and hence never felt the need to announce his ODI retirement. Sources close to Dravid say he is of the opinion that it would be in his, and Indian cricket's, best interest if he stayed out of the one-day format. 'He genuinely feels that it is better for him and Indian cricket if he concentrated only on Test cricket,' said a source close to Dravid.
News Posted: 8 August, 2011
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