Thursday, January 15, 2009

Why Is Dravid Being Made The Scapegoat?

The picture is right in front of us, after the first inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League. Royal Challengers Bangalore finished last but one, only ahead of Deccan Chargers. This would obviously hurt, irritate and even make the sponsorer go mad, after investing the second highest amount in the tournament/league. For, Vijay Mallya invested a huge 442 crores for Royal Challengers team, that was just one crore less than that invested for the Mumbai Indians which was 443 crores. Well, that is not the discussion of the hour. All that Vijay Mallya could do was to sack the team manager Charu Sharma. Not a bad move, though not a good one.

And the recent news was that Rahul Dravid would no more be leading the side. In other words, Rahul Dravid's credibility in taking his team forward is being questioned by the owner. And more over, its been a buzz that Rahul Dravid has even been put up for sale. No idea regarding how true the story is. However, this is not good news and not fair on the part of Vijay Mallya. For, it was only because of Dravid that Royal Challengers ended a place above the Deccan Chargers. Else, the team would have been placed at the last position. No doubt that Dravid's style of play is more suited for the test cricket and not for T20 game which is the one concerned.

But, if Dravid can adapt himself to this format of the game, which is not considered his cup of tea, it really deserves much applause for it. I think it is still in the memories of Vijay Mallya the way Rahul Dravid snatched victory against the runners up of the tournament- Chennai Superkings, when all would have thought otherwise. And the way he belted an unbeaten 75 off just 35 balls against the champions- Rajasthan Royals is something noteworthy. All these with the above mentioned fact that he is a test player basically. Still if Vijay Mallya thinks of axing Dravid and even tries to get rid of him by auctioning him, I feelt that Mallya's cricketing knowledge has to be reconsidered.

If Dravid has to be axed, if Vijay Mallya is to be believed, so should be Wassim Jaffer and Sunil Joshi. And god knows as to what made Vijay Mallya think of having Zaheer Khan sacked inspite of him being among the leading wicket takers in that edition? And how successsful was Robin Uttappa in the Mumbai Indians' side? Why doesn't Vijay Mallya curse himself for bidding money on players like Sunil Joshi, Virat Kohli and Wassim Jaffer who don't even have the ability to stand for a long time like in test matches, forget about a T20 bash? If this is the way someone like Vijay Mallya thinks, I wish even the IPL chaiman Lalit Modi should consider sacking Mallya as a sponsorer who does not know to pick the right players for the game. But, money makes many things.

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