Dravid to play first and only Twenty20 international

After representing the country in 157 Tests and 339 ODIs, rahul Dravid (38) will finally play a T20 international for India which will also be his last

Dravid to play first and only Twenty20 international

After representing the country in 157 Tests and 339 ODIs, rahul Dravid (38) will finally play a T20 international for India which will also be his last

After representing India in 157 Test matches and 339 ODIs, veteran Rahul Dravid is finally going to make his debut in the shortest format -- Twenty20 -- when India play their one-off international against England at Old Trafford today.

Rahul Dravid. Pic/Getty Images

For a change, there wasn't any hush-hush about the announcement of the veteran's inclusion in the final XI.
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It will also be Dravid's last Twenty20 match for India as he has said he will retire from shorter formats of the international game to concentrate on prolonging his illustrious Test career.

Maestro Sachin Tendulkar though will be skipping the fixture. With Tendulkar not playing, another Mumbai batsman Ajinkya Rahane is all set to make his debut for the country.

It can be recalled that Dravid, along with Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar, had asked the selectors not to consider them for the Twenty20 format ahead of the 2007 World Twenty20 that was eventually won by India.u00a0

Gautam Gambhir will also be missing the one-off tie and the entire ODI series too. "It's a big loss. He has done really well not only as an opener but also when he batted at number three when Virender Sehwag and Tendulkar were opening the innings. He also plays spin very well," Dhoni said in the pre-match media briefing.

However, the injuries in the ongoing tour have also compelled the skipper to call for a rotation policy. "We will have to rotate the players. It's important for our players to get rest. (Suresh) Raina has been participating in all formats.

"It's more to do with the mental rather than the physical aspect. Good rest helps you keep the injuries away,"
Dhoni felt. As many as six regular players -- Virender Sehwag,u00a0 Gambhir, Ishant Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan -- are resting after having suffered injuries.