DILIP SARDESAI MEMORIAL LECTURE

Rahul Dravid: ODI cricket is struggling

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I think there are meaningless one-day games and too many one day games can actually be a problem: Rahul Dravid. © Cricbuzz

ODI cricket at present is largely irrelevant and is struggling to survive, according to former India captain, Rahul Dravid who said there should be more tournaments like Champions Trophy and World Cup to give it a proper context.

"I think one-day cricket is seriously struggling. One-day cricket, without a context, is struggling. One-day cricket, if you look at it from the point of view of Champions Trophy or the World Cup, is relevant," he said at an interactive session after delivering the 6th Dilip Sardesai Memorial Lecture.

"I think all the other one-day cricket should actually be driven towards playing Champions Trophy and World Cup. I think there are meaningless one-day games and too many one day games can actually be a problem. So, that is something that can be cut off and people can play less one-day (bilateral) cricket and more ODI tournaments," Dravid said.

"When you have three formats of the game and playing 10 months a year and playing different tournaments, it is going to be harder and harder on players to manage the workload," the 41-year-old cricketer added.

Speaking about the proliferation of illegal bowling actions, Dravid said 'chucking' was not a crime but a technical fault that can be corrected.

"The ICC has a rule in place. When they reviewed a lot of old film footage they actually found that having that elbow bent at 15 degrees was actually pretty normal. That is what everyone was doing. Glenn McGrath had a slight bend in his elbow but up to 15 degrees, so he was not chucking. They have a system in place.

"What I am really glad about is that they are enforcing it strictly and they are reviewing it. I give them the benefit of doubt. The ICC is being more vigilant and they are not saying that once you have cleared in 2009, you can't be checked again. So they have got to keep monitoring it and watching it closely and if bowlers develop different kinds of deliveries, then why not have them checked?"

"Personally I don't think you should see chucking as a crime. I think it is just a technical fault that people have and view it like that. You have a technical fault in your action, go out and correct it and come back," said the former Test batting stalwart.

"You have (bowled) a no-ball when you overstep the line and nobody says you are cheating. They say come back behind the line and here they say come back behind 15 degrees and play the game," he added.

On the topic of some Indian players being accompanied by wives and girlfriends during the Test series that they lost 1-3 to England, he said it should be allowed.

"The guys play 10 or 11 months a year. If you don't allow their wives or girlfriends on tour then that would be a bigger problem. I don't think you can start blaming wives or girlfriends for performance," he said.

Though he scored five double Test hundreds and also got involved in a series-turning 376-run partnership with VVS Laxman against Australia in Kolkata in 2001, Dravid said he was more satisfied with his two half centuries in Kingston, Jamaica in the 2006 Test series against the West Indies.

"The two innings that gave me the most satisfaction were scoring those two fifties against West Indies in a Test match in Kingston in Jamaica, in 2006. The series was tied at 0-0 and I was captain of the side and was feeling a bit of pressure that India needed to win the series. We go into the last Test and we play on a terrible wicket and as soon as you looked at the wicket you knew this match wasn't going to last more than three days. I got a couple of fifties in that game and I think only (Ramnaresh) Sarwan got a 50 for West Indies in the second innings.

"When I look back on my career, I got a double hundred at Adelaide, I think scoring those two 50s in really difficult conditions and winning the Test match for India, probably gave me the most satisfaction," he said.

Speaking about the young Indian cricketers and their seriousness when it comes to Test cricket, Dravid said: "When people say that some of our boys don't care about Test cricket, that's completely wrong. Because all they are asking me is, 'how did you do well?'. They are not worried about a T20 game coming up. They are only interested in knowing how did we do well (in Tests) in England, how did we do well in Australia."

"Virat Kohli is asking those questions all the time. I don't think it is that they don't care. They care deeply but they were found out against a really good bowling attack on a difficult wicket. And they were not good enough in those particular Test matches. But I think they do care (about Tests) and they ask those questions," Dravid added.

Dravid, who mentored the Indian cricketers before the Test series in England, said it would take a while before he works full time with the Indian team.

"I think there is a time and place for everything. I have enjoyed the media side of what I have done. I don't think it's easy. I have enjoyed the mentorship thing that I do with Rajasthan Royals for two months. It just fits into where my life is at the moment. That's just an honest answer, having two young kids.

"It's just a question of balancing how your life is. But yes, I would love at some stage to work with young cricketers. Whether that's with the Indian coach, I don't know. It could be as a coach of a Ranji team at some stage," he said.

© Cricbuzz (with inputs from agencies)