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Differences led to Dravid's resignation
The mystery of Rahul Dravid's resignation as captain of Indian cricket team remains unsolved.
- Anjali Doshi
- Updated: November 06, 2007 02:51 PM IST
Read Time:2 min
Mumbai:
The statement, many say, hint at the private battle a captain constantly faces, whether with senior players, selectors or managers and which Dravid too faced once again during the recent England tour.
Sources say, this happened because senior players, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, did not extend him the kind of support he wanted.
Team meetings are usually attended by the manager, coach, captain, vice-captain and sometimes a selector.
Of late, team manager Rajiv Shukla had started inviting Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly for the meetings.
These senior players were also allowed a say in team selection in the England tour. And given Dravid's rough equation with Sachin and Sourav, he naturally felt angry and sidelined.
Dravid did not want Robin Uthappa to play the sixth ODI against England. But tour selectors Ranjit Biswal and Sanjay Jagdale and Sachin Tendulkar pressed for his inclusion.
Ironically for Dravid Uthappa gave a stunning match-winning performance.
During the same tour, Dravid was badly hurt by Zaheer Khan's statement. At the conclusion of the final Test, Dravid had said he did not enforce a follow-on because the bowlers were tired. But Zaheer Khan went to media and said the bowlers had wanted to go ahead.
Dravid and the Chairman of Selection Committee Dilip Vengsarkar had huge differences right from the start and it kept getting worse.
Insiders say, post the World Cup, selectors wanted to drop Virendra Sehwag. But Dravid insisted on his inclusion in the Bangladesh tour. Ironically for Dravid, Sehwag barely gave an average performance.
Then, Dravid did not want Ajit Agarkar in the England series. Vengsarkar insisted. This time Agarkar's performance was poor and Vengsarkar had been proved wrong.
"Dravid was betrayed by Vengsarkar," said Kiran More, former chairman, Selection Committee, BCCI.
"It's rubbish. It's a figment of your imagination," said Vengsarkar.
Because of Rahul Dravid's private and intense nature, the reasons why he quit were never fully clear. What's clear is there's more evidence that the captaincy of India remains a crown of thorns.
The mystery of Rahul Dravid's resignation as captain of Indian cricket team remains unsolved. He has only said that the Indian captain has a limited shelf life.The statement, many say, hint at the private battle a captain constantly faces, whether with senior players, selectors or managers and which Dravid too faced once again during the recent England tour.
Sources say, this happened because senior players, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, did not extend him the kind of support he wanted.
Team meetings are usually attended by the manager, coach, captain, vice-captain and sometimes a selector.
Of late, team manager Rajiv Shukla had started inviting Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly for the meetings.
These senior players were also allowed a say in team selection in the England tour. And given Dravid's rough equation with Sachin and Sourav, he naturally felt angry and sidelined.
Dravid did not want Robin Uthappa to play the sixth ODI against England. But tour selectors Ranjit Biswal and Sanjay Jagdale and Sachin Tendulkar pressed for his inclusion.
Ironically for Dravid Uthappa gave a stunning match-winning performance.
During the same tour, Dravid was badly hurt by Zaheer Khan's statement. At the conclusion of the final Test, Dravid had said he did not enforce a follow-on because the bowlers were tired. But Zaheer Khan went to media and said the bowlers had wanted to go ahead.
Dravid and the Chairman of Selection Committee Dilip Vengsarkar had huge differences right from the start and it kept getting worse.
Insiders say, post the World Cup, selectors wanted to drop Virendra Sehwag. But Dravid insisted on his inclusion in the Bangladesh tour. Ironically for Dravid, Sehwag barely gave an average performance.
Then, Dravid did not want Ajit Agarkar in the England series. Vengsarkar insisted. This time Agarkar's performance was poor and Vengsarkar had been proved wrong.
"Dravid was betrayed by Vengsarkar," said Kiran More, former chairman, Selection Committee, BCCI.
"It's rubbish. It's a figment of your imagination," said Vengsarkar.
Because of Rahul Dravid's private and intense nature, the reasons why he quit were never fully clear. What's clear is there's more evidence that the captaincy of India remains a crown of thorns.
Topics mentioned in this article
Cricket Rahul Dravid
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