Indian cricket in safe hands with Professor Rahul around

Taking into account the dismissals of Abhinav Mukund, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh at Nottingham on Monday, there's reason to believe that the education is still not over

Indian cricket in safe hands with Professor Rahul around

Just as Anil Kumble credited Rahul Dravid 'for teaching India how to win overseas when a new decade dawned' in his retirement speech at Nagpur in 2008, there was a feeling there were youngsters in this Indian side ready to carve out their own legacy, dedicate themselves to batting for hours without hopping into the familiar T20 mode.

But taking into account the dismissals of Abhinav Mukund, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh at Nottingham on Monday, there's reason to believe that the education is still not over.

Dravid was the lone warrior (contributing two tons) as India were thwarted, twice, in the space of 11 days. Despite averaging 41 (considerably lower than his career average) between 2007 and 2011, Dravid's decision to continue playing is laudable.

Ajay Jadeja

Whether it was motivation to return to Lord's or leave his final imprint on an English summer, one won't know.

Dravid realised Indian cricket still needed him. In fact, by the end of the first two Tests, he had done everything that gave him iconic status. He kept wickets to let his skipper bowl, opened the batting when a teammate was hurt and even took blows on the ribcage in the bargain. The series, in a nutshell, sums up his contribution to Indian cricket.

Ajay Jadeja, a former teammate and ardent Dravid supporter, said the youngsters were in safe hands to improve their batting in tough conditions. "It's not fair to blame the youngsters because all of ours wins between 2001 and 2011 have been because of Dravid & Co. Besides Yuvraj and Raina, the make-up of the batting has remained the same. We cannot gauge the ability of a batting line-up based on one or two performances. Sure, there might be some technical flaws but nothing is beyond repair. When you look at the legends in that dressing roomu00a0-- Laxman, Dravid and Sachinu00a0-- these youngsters are in safe hands. There's nothing to worry about," Jadeja told MiD DAY yesterday.

Maybe, Dravid must stick with this team foreveru00a0-- if not as a batsman, maybe a consultant? "That would be a very healthy initiative, but we must not depend so much on one player's greatness. We didn't become the No 1 side overnight ufffd there was lot of hardwork put in. I am still optimistic about this side's chances; there are some tough characters in there. Their pride has been hurt, you would see an improved performance soon," he
added.