Team in churn finds ideal man to ring in big changes
In 2004, he had (in)famously declared with Tendulkar on 194*. Dravid is taking tough calls again, this time as a head coach
KOLKATA: Taking hard calls is just another day in the office for a cricket coach and leader. For Rahul Dravid, those calls have begun to come thick and fast, just a few months into his coaching tenure. And like he did most everything in his playing career, there is a certain aura of dignity and transparency in the way Dravid is handling these delicate situations.
Dropping Wriddhiman Saha, Ishant Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane from the Sri Lanka tour may be the first of many decisions Dravid may have to take as part of the team management in what is possibly the trickiest transition ever witnessed in Indian cricket. But Dravid isn’t making any bones about it.
“These are conversations I constantly have with players,” he said in a virtual press conference here after India blanked West Indies 3-0 in the T20I series here on Sunday.
One of those conversations became public when Saha spoke to journalists, divulging details about how Dravid told him that he will probably not be in consideration for selection to the Indian team any more. When asked if he was upset that Saha chose to reveal a private conversation, Dravid said he was “not hurt at all.”
“I honestly don’t expect players to always like all the messages, or agree with everything I have to say about them,” Dravid said. “That’s not how it works. But that doesn’t mean you brush it under the carpet and don’t have the conversations.
“I have a deep respect for Wriddhiman Saha and his achievements and contributions to Indian cricket. My conversation with him actually came from that place, from my respect for him. I think he deserved honesty and clarity. I didn’t want him to hear about it from the media. It’s natural for players at times to get upset and to feel hurt.”
Whether it’s Saha, Sharma, Pujara or Rahane, each of those conversations must have been difficult, because each of these players have had long and impactful careers at the top level. Saha has forever been an understudy, but he made his limited opportunities count, both with his superb skills behind the wicket and with some important knocks with the bat. Saha last played for India in November 2021 Test against New Zealand where, playing through a neck spasm, he made a gritty, unbeaten half century.
“Before every playing XI is picked, even now, either me or Rohit will speak to the guys not playing and are open to answer questions on why they are not playing and what are the reasons a particular XI might play,” Dravid said.
That may just be a first for Team India, where the norm has been to drop players without explanation or conversations.
Before Dravid took over the Indian team, his stint as the India U-19 and A team coach and National Cricket Academy chief was already the stuff of coaching legends. People who have worked with him as player and coach vouch for his ability to see the big picture and his constant endeavour to prepare cricketers—especially the younger ones—for the uncertainties of the game and life above and beyond it. Not every cricketer however can accept logical selection calls. To some, it may feel like an outright rejection after having put in years of blood and sweat to the only thing they did since their teens—playing cricket. But emotion doesn’t run professional cricket. It’s dictated by cold, absolute numbers, skills and most importantly—age.
Unpopular calls
Saha is 37, Pujara is 34, Ishant and Rahane are 33. Even if Rahane and Pujara were playing regularly, Ishant and Saha weren’t for a long time now. The nature of the game is such that batters always tend to get more chances so in the case of Rahane and Pujara, perhaps the idea was to give them a full series at one go and see how it pans out. Pujara scored 0, 16, 3, 53, 43 and 9. Rahane scored 48, 20, 0, 58, 9 and 1. India lost 1-2 in South Africa. A decision had to be taken since Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari were waiting in the ranks. And since home Tests always offer the best opportunity to usher in change, Rahane and Pujara were dropped.
Keeping them in the squad but not playing them wouldn’t have done anyone any favours. The same logic applied to Saha. “We have only three Tests this year and with Rishabh Pant having established himself as our No. 1 choice wicketkeeper, we were looking to groom a younger wicketkeeper,” said Dravid. “That was it. This doesn’t change my feelings or respect for Wriddhi or his contribution.”
If Saha had to play second fiddle to MS Dhoni for most of his career, the emergence of Rishabh Pant, the only Indian wicketkeeper to have scored centuries in Australia, England and South Africa, overshadowed Saha just as he got the opportunity to step up as first-choice keeper. Saha may be one of the most skilled keepers in the world, but the modern demand is that he needs to be equally good with the bat. Had skills with the glove been topmost priority, Ben Foakes would have played more Tests for England than Jos Buttler. That Saha was chosen over Pant even some time back in home Tests--because keeping on Indian pitches can be daunting--says a lot about the respect Saha’s skills commanded. But with time, he was edged out by Pant’s prolific batting form. Saha may still be the best keeper in the country but no team can progress with a 37-year old backup. Kona Srikar Bharat, aged 28, presents a more futuristic choice.
Ageing squad
The Test squad is ageing as well. Out of the 18 in the squad for the South Africa tour, 12 were above 30, including seven who were 33 or older. The longevity of some bowlers can be increased through the rotation policy, but the same approach doesn’t work for wicketkeepers or batters.
A few years down the line, even Rohit and Kohli’s positions are bound to be discussed simply because of the age factor. These are unpopular calls that someone with the stature of Dravid can take and live with. After all, the series wins in the West Indies (they still had Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul) in 2006 and England in 2007 wouldn’t have been possible without some brave calls from Dravid. Even as stand-in captain, he had declared with Sachin Tendulkar on 194 in Multan. It’s a thankless job, being impartial and keeping the team’s interests above everything else. Evidently, no one can do it better than Dravid. “Like I said, the easiest thing for me is to not have these conversations or not speak to players about it, but that’s not who I am or what I am going to do,” Dravid said.
“I don’t expect them to like it, but at some stage I hope they will respect the fact that I was at least able to front up and have these conversations.”
If the process of building a new core has to start somewhere it has to be here, right after the South Africa tour defeat, with Kohli leaving captaincy and Rohit stepping in. “I’ve learnt a lot. I am not stressed too much about the results,” said Dravid.
“I want the team to get better. I want to move them in the right direction. South Africa was a reality check for us, especially in the one-day format. In the Test format a few things could have gone our way if we had a bit of luck. It’s really important to keep learning as a coach. Every day new things crop up. I don’t expect not to make mistakes, I am going to get stuff wrong. I’ll learn, I’ll improve.”