Why drop Dravid: Kumble by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Player:	RS Dravid, A Kumble
Event:	Australia in India 2009/10

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DateLine: 17th October 2009

 

Former India Test captain Anil Kumble questioned the decision to drop Rahul Dravid for the upcoming ODIs against Australia.

 

Dravid was recalled to the national side for the recent Champions Trophy in South Africa following an absence of two years as a replacement for the injured Virender Sehwag.

 

But with the return of Sehwag after injury and hard-hitting batsman Yuvraj Singh also returning from a fractured finger that ruled him out of the 50-over tournament, the 36-year-old found himself surplus to requirements.

 

Former team-mate Kumble though believes Dravid should have been retained for the seven-match series.

 

"I don't know why they didn't continue with him. It's a call that the selectors made," Kumble said.

 

"I don't think someone who has played that long, of that stature, should have been dropped in that way after having performed in the Champions Trophy.

 

"I certainly would have wanted him to continue but probably the selectors thought that he came as a replacement for Virender Sehwag and Sehwag was fit so he had to go, maybe that was the reason."

 

Kumble also said that people have been reading a little too much after the recent defeats of the side.

 

"People are reading too much into a couple of tournaments," he added.

 

"Twenty20 is a format where you can't really say who's going to win. Nobody ever thought that Pakistan would win, I don't think anybody gave them a chance.

 

"In terms of the Champions Trophy, it was disappointing that India didn't qualify (for the semi-finals) but if you look at the format, one loss in the opening game and you can't really recover. It's not that India has done poorly in the last two years."