Dravid dropped from 1st two ODIs vs Pak, Sehwag In

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Rahul Dravid and Dinesh Karthik have been left out of the Indian squad for the first two one-dayers against Pakistan. Virender Sehwag makes a comeback, as does Gautam Gambhir, who recently recovered from a groin strain, while Uttar Pradesh allrounder Praveen Kumar is the only new face. The series kicks off on November 5, with the first ODI in Guwahati.

Dravid missed out on the final one-dayer against Australia in Mumbai recently and there has been speculation about his spot being under threat. Dilip Vengsarkar, the chairman of the selection committee, said Dravid was “rested”. “We decided to give him a break. He’s a great player and he will be back soon.”

Karthik, despite his fine Test form, has struggled in his last ten one-dayers, averaging 19.33 with a highest score of 44 not out. He replaced Dravid for the final ODI against Australia in Mumbai but ended the game with a duck.

Squad for first two one-dayers: Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Robin Uthappa, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik.

http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/indvpak/content/current/story/317314.html

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Re: Dravid dropped from 1st two ODIs vs Pak, Sehwag In

Why is Dravid dropped? Is it because of some injury or some personnel injured? I can't think of anything more stupid, they should've dropped Tendulkra IMO.

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Re: Dravid dropped from 1st two ODIs vs Pak, Sehwag In

Good for Pakistan, Dravid is a torn in the middle order, very reliable and match winner. Now only Yuvraj stands there alone with Dhoni and what his face?

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Re: Dravid dropped from 1st two ODIs vs Pak, Sehwag In

cant believe it
i hope theres a plan, and not just a really dumb random thing
he just didnt perform this series where he was shuffled around like a pack of cards up and down the order and half the innings he came at like 6 or 7, hardly got any time…

you are right Man with a Plan, inzi in an interview said the same

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Re: Dravid dropped from 1st two ODIs vs Pak, Sehwag In

good stuff :k:

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Re: Dravid dropped from 1st two ODIs vs Pak, Sehwag In

What exactly has Sehwag done lately to warrant this recall ?

His comeback is good news for Pak.

Also, opening batting is least of India's problems currently....Tendu/Gangu/Gambhir/Uthappa are all potential openers.....where was the need for an out-of-form Sehwag ?

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Re: Dravid dropped from 1st two ODIs vs Pak, Sehwag In

And btw, it is exteremely stupid to drop a player of Dravid's calibre after one bad series....when Tendu/Gangu have gotten so many chances in the past even when they were performing badly.

If Dravid had to be dropped , Raina/Kaif would have been much better replacement as compared to Sehwag.....Raina and Kaif have been performing well recently...plus they are excellent fielders.

All in all....this Indian team will please Pakistan immensely.

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Re: Dravid dropped from 1st two ODIs vs Pak, Sehwag In

^ may be they are trying to play horses for opponents, Sehwag has had good success against Pakistan.

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Re: Dravid dropped from 1st two ODIs vs Pak, Sehwag In

dravid or no dravid
can't avoid the upcoming drubbing!

Q&A: Zindagi aur Aap. Aaj ka Mehmaan: Sehrysh
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Re: Dravid dropped from 1st two ODIs vs Pak, Sehwag In

A very stupid move from Indian selectors. I think this is a blessing for Pakistan. First of all they replaced Dravid with an out of form opener and with India already having an abundance of openers Sehwag might not even get a chance to play which or if he does someone will move lower down the order but there is no one as good as Dravid in the middle order. If things click selectors might jump for joy and brag how it all worked out but it still is a stupid move even if Indian wins. You dont drop one of the truly world class players after just one bad series. Dravid is the pillar that has kept Indian middle order in order for a long long time. Indeed it is a sad state to drop such a great player.

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Re: Dravid dropped from 1st two ODIs vs Pak, Sehwag In

He is in the the team just because of ONE innings he played in the challenger series:

Today…Karthik scored a century…I saw the match, he played brilliantly.

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Re: Dravid dropped from 1st two ODIs vs Pak, Sehwag In

^ I think Sehwag has been figured out nicely now by most world-class bowlers. He is vulnerable to short rising deliveries just outside the off-stump where he often gets out playing a neither-here-nor-there slash shot....and you can picture him walking back to the pavillion practising that shot as if he knew what he was doing.

Replacing Dravid with Sehwag, is like replacing THE WALL with a FRAGILE FENCE.

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Re: Dravid dropped from 1st two ODIs vs Pak, Sehwag In

we can afford to replace the wall with a fragile fence as we do not want to isolate our neigbour, that just shows our hospitality. Big wall would scare them away.
It was a terrible idea of dropping Dravid though.

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Re: Dravid dropped from 1st two ODIs vs Pak, Sehwag In

One thing I have come to understand from following Indian Cricket for more than two decades is that while some players are penalized very quickly for non-performance, some others enjoy the proverbial "cat's nine lives" when it comes to under-performance.

For example, Irfan Pathan was unceremoniously sent back to India from the middle of the tour of South Africa when he was not performing well.....I wonder if the same threatment was ever meted out to Agarkar - and Agarkar has done worse than Pathan innumerable times.

Ganguly did not do jack as a batsman for almost 2 years and he kept playing until his spat with Chappel resulted in his exit.

Consistency from the selection committee is all I ask.

All said and done, as if Dravid's omission was not bad enough - his replacement ("Sehwag") is really like adding insult to injury.

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Re: Dravid dropped from 1st two ODIs vs Pak, Sehwag In

I don't agree with the selector's decision to drop Dravid but just like it did for Kallis a bit of rest might do Dravid some good. It's really unlike him to be averaging around 9 in his last 10 one-dayers!

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Re: Dravid dropped from 1st two ODIs vs Pak, Sehwag In

And Sehwag scored a glorious ONE run. Displayed his usual self.

Vengsarkar's explanation that he was picked because of that one fifty in an earlier match is all eyewash.

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Re: Dravid dropped from 1st two ODIs vs Pak, Sehwag In

This is at least partly Vengsarkar trying to put Dravid in his place. These Bombay players have to have full control (eg Gavaskar). Bombay Gymkhana network at work.

If they cheese of Dravid too much he's the type that would silently leave. Dhoni is too young to push back.

Like Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, Vengsarkar - mediocrity tries to keep excellence down

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Re: Dravid dropped from 1st two ODIs vs Pak, Sehwag In

^Dravid is the softest target among the THREE "SENIORS"....he doesn't have truck-loads of fans waiting to burn the effigy of the selectors.

I wonder if the selectors would have had the guts to DROP Tendulkar after a bad series with Australia (btw, he didn't praticularly have a great one).

Anyways, here's the reaction from the Pakistani players :

*Dravid’s omission a surprise: Younis*

Lahore, Oct. 28: Several Pakistan players believe that the decision to drop former Indian captain Rahul Dravid for the first two one-day internationals against them will give the visitors a big advantage.
The Indian selectors have left out Dravid for the games in Guwahati and Mohali on November 5 and 8 after he had a poor series at home against Australia .

Senior batsman Younis Khan said Dravid was a fantastic player who had always led from the front.

"The advantage is for us. Because if India don't perform well or lose the first two games, the pressure will increase on their selectors and captain and management that they dropped someone like Dravid," Younis said on Sunday.

"The pressure which is already on India as they are playing at home, will only increase for their selectors and team management and that will benefit us in the long run."

Pacer Mohammad Asif said he was looking forward to the Indian tour but was surprised Dravid had been rested for the first two games.

"The first two matches of any series are always important. His absence will make a difference to our attitude because he is a world class player and one of the best in the world," said Asif.
Asif said Dravid's absence will put more pressure on their younger players to perform well. "This should be to our advantage."
Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who is making a comeback to the team in the final one-dayer against South Africa, said he was happy he did not have to bowl to Dravid.

"He is a very difficult batsman to dislodge and as a bowler I never enjoyed bowling to him and his wicket was always a prized one for me."

"I was not expecting their selectors would drop him so soon because he is such a quality player."

Batsman Yasir Hameed said he had always tried to emulate Dravid and was surprised to learn he was not picked for the first two one-dayers.

"He is such an experienced player and has scored so many runs. His presence has always been invaluable to the Indian team. So I am surprised they should drop him for the first two games."

Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif said the Indian selectors had blundered by omitting Dravid. (PTI)

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Re: Dravid dropped from 1st two ODIs vs Pak, Sehwag In

^ jitney moon utni baatein :D

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Re: Dravid dropped from 1st two ODIs vs Pak, Sehwag In

***dravid ko drop nahe kia aise lugta hai jaise nuclear bomb drop kar diya hai. ***

yaar there are many talented players in the team who can win matches for india.dravid is struggling for form [batting/fielding] so rest for few games is good for him. :k: