Dravid made one sacrifice too many

[Vinod Gopani]

Karachi, Feb. 1: Right through the four days of the third and final Test of the three-game series at the National stadium here, Rahul Dravid has looked a shadow of the man he was not a week ago after India had fought back from the brink at Faisalabad.

Whether it was the brouhaha over selecting the final XI for this game where he went head-to-head with coach Greg Chappell over the inclusion of Sourav Ganguly, or simply the law of averages catching up with him, Dravid is just not the batsman he was even on the last day of the second Test on January 25.

Scores of 128 not out at Lahore and 103 and an unbeaten 5 have suddenly turned into a nightmare. Two single digit totals here, the first with little pressure on him, and the second under the hammer, and all of a sudden the batsman we know as the “Wall” is looking frail.

Part of the reason can be traced directly back to the phenomenally successful opening partnership Dravid mounted, of 410, at Lahore. He had opened in the series against Sri Lanka in an emergency with Sehwag out of the game at Delhi, but his hundred in the first Test of this series really put the seal on where he would bat for the remaining two matches.

Even back in Delhi, it had been a risky move. Dravid and Sehwag have been India’s premier batsmen in Tests for the last couple of years and it was always going to be a gamble for them to come out at the top of the order together. And the one time it mattered most, they were both gone before the quarter-full National Stadium had even had time to blink.

Simply going by the way he played the two innings here, Dravid has something on the mind. That impression was reinforced in the manner in which things drifted away from India in the massive second innings the hosts mounted, and in double-quick time.

For a batsman so correct and technically-accomplished, Dravid looked scratchy and tentative. More importantly, he seemed extremely vulnerable.
Given the fact that India went into their second innings needing Dravid — most of all — to play a typically long and dogged innings, it was a poor judgement call for him to have continued at the top of the order.

If India lost wickets cheaply — as did happen — he was the one who would have normally taken up the challenge of keeping one end going. That, he negated by walking out alongside Sehwag.

History is a harsh judge, especially of the loser. Dravid will no doubt justify his decision to keep two specialists on the bench in the interest of team composition, but he cannot get away from the fact that he was no longer there when India needed him the most on this crucial tour.

Ironically, the man he made the sacrifice for just got better and better as the Indians unerringly found every banana peel strewn in their path.