NDTV.com: Dravid decides to step down

Dravid decides to step down

NDTV Correspondent

Friday, September 14, 2007 (New Delhi)

Rahul Dravid has resigned as the captain of the Indian cricket team. He met BCCI Chief Sharad Pawar in Delhi on Thursday and told him he wants to step down as captain and concentrate on his game.

He told Pawar that he is not interested in retaining the skipper's job for the series coming up in Australia.

While it's bad news for fans, the good news is that Rahul will not hang up his cricket boots. He has assured Pawar that as a batsman and senior player he will give his full support for his successor.

The next BCCI meeting will take place on September 18, and the matter will be taken up then. BCCI Vice-President Rajeev Shukla said the Board will consider his request and look for a successor.

"He has expressed his desire to quit and has written a letter to the Board president in this regard. The Board will definitely consider his request," Shukla said.

"He has been requesting for the past couple of days. He was feeling burdened as a player and captain. The BCCI will now consider the options," he said.

Shukla said Dravid did not give any indication during the tour of England that he wanted to step down. "I think the reasons are personal. He must have pondered over it".

"Dravid wants to concentrate on his game," said BCCI President Sharad Pawar. He also said that Dravid wanted a new person to get an opportunity and will extend full cooperation to his successor.

"Dravid spoke to me earlier too, then again yesterday," said Pawar. "We should respect his decision."

But BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said the board will try to persuade Dravid to reconsider his decision,

"He is such a great captain and we've performed well under him. This was his desire, so he told the president and now we'll tell the selection committee. It has come as a surprise to us, since he is a good captain.

"How can one say that we don't have a coach or a captain now; the captain is always selected before a series and we have two coaches.

"These things keep happening in cricket, players like to enjoy their cricket. This is Rahul's decision, though everyone will try to convince him but ultimately this matter is in the purview of the Selection Committee," said Niranjan Shah.

But the board may have already zeroed in on 20-20 captain M S Dhoni for leading the country in one-dayers.

Dravid's achievements:

Rahul Dravid led India to a historic Test series win against the West Indies in their home soil in 2006.

Since 1971, India had never won a Test series in the West Indies. This was also their first prominent series win outside the Indian subcontinent (barring the win against Zimbabwe in 2005) since 1986.

Under Dravid's captaincy the Indian team tied the previous record of most consecutive One-Day International wins for an Indian team thus equalling the record run that the Indian team had achieved under Sourav Ganguly in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa (8).

During his captaincy the Indian team broke the 14-match West Indies record for most consecutive won matches in One-Day Internationals while chasing a total.

For this 17 match run, Dravid was the captain for 15 matches and Sourav Ganguly was the captain for the other two. This streak was broken on 5/20/06, when India lost to the West Indies by one run at Sabina Park, Jamaica.

Dravid is the first captain to lead India to a Test match victory against South Africa on South African soil.

He became only the third captain from India to win a Test series in England. This feat was achieved after 21 years, the other two captains being Kapil Dev (1986) and Ajit Wadekar (1971).

Meanwhile, the Indian cricket team in Durban is shocked by Dravid's decision.

The last time anyone caught a glimpse of Rahul Dravid was on Thursday at the launch of the Indian Premier League. Dravid gave no hint as to his future plan of action.

The Indian selectors have said they are as surprised as all of India about Dravid's desire to step down.

In an exclusive interview to NDTV after the BCCI's launch of the IPL Dilip Vengsarkar admitted that M S Dhoni is a fine prospect.

Dravid captained India in 25 Tests, and won 8 matches, lost 6, while 11 matches were drawn. Of 79 ODIs he played as captain, India won 42 of the matches and 33 were drawn. (With PTI inputs)

Dravid Details:

Full name: Rahul Sharad Dravid
Born: January 11, 1973, Indore
Current age: 34 years 246 days
Major teams: India, Scotland, ACC Asian XI, ICC World XI, Karnataka, Kent
Nickname: The Wall
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm offbreak
Fielding position: Occasional wicketkeeper
Education: St Joseph's Boys' High School

.:: User Comments

Posted by: soumya [ 01 Oct 2007 ]
He has lot of patients. he has done very good job as a captain

Posted by: ganesh [ 17 Sep 2007 ]
ganguly should be brought back till india gets someone for long term.

Posted by: Lancelot Frank [ 15 Sep 2007 ]
Rahul Dravid is a great batsman and a brilliant Captain. But we Indians are used to gully cricket and we think he is not an aggressive captain because for us cricket is nothing but swinging the bat every ball and getting sixes. For me, he is one of the greatest Captains India has ever produced, All his decisions are based on experience and cricketing acumen but nobody understands the reasoning behind these decisions because he is extremely intelligent. All the best Dravid.

Posted by: ashwin patel [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
good decission taken by Dravid.

Posted by: NJ Rao [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
The days of Indian Cricket are in the shadows of evening. After disqualifying the super 8 in world cup and recent struggle in one day matches against England, this news is a set back to Indian Cricket.

Posted by: abhishek [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
i would seriously ask rahul to reconsider his decision given the fact that the next generation of Indian players are not yet ready for the tactical and strategic challenges in captain ship i think he should continue and give dhoni more time to learn.

Posted by: sathishgn [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
he is the real wall behind the indian team for all these years ,finding replacement as dhoni will cause lot of pressure on dhoni ,which might affect his natural play ,also oflate dhoni is not performing to his potential.

Posted by: pkc [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
I must not say it is a good decision, but definitely better than being pulled down. Why not think about Sachin, he is not the same one as he was some 15 years back. He has the greatest cricketing brain and skill combo to lead a team India to the greatest of glory. Selectors, please think. Sachin has nothing to lose, nothing to prove, but more things yet to contribute for Indian cricket.

Posted by: Hari [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
Dravid is a great player and i've admired him as a captain and player. I feel the next captain should be Ganguly.

Posted by: Subhadip Ghosh [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
ARVIND U R GREAT MAN ... AWSOME SAID..ABSOLUTE TRUE. CAN U GUYS SEE ANYBODY OTHER THAN SOURAV AT THIS MOMENT? i AM TELLING YOU GUYS NOBODY WILL COME UP EXCEPT DADA TO TAKE UP THE CAPTENCY LOOKING AT THE TOUGH SCHEDULE AHEAD.

Posted by: Amitabh Kumar [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
Well done man. You have the courage and a long future as a batsman.

Posted by: Suvajit [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
Atleast it proves that he can take some good decision.

Posted by: Manoj Menon [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
I think he has done his best and its the right time for him to step down as he can Just be a Player and not an Agressive Captain as Saurav Ganguly as we should remember the World Cup 2003 When DADA was the Captain and we lost only against Aussie's and that was the Second ever World Cup when India hit the Finals. Unlike the 2006 World Cup which was Pathetic!!! If the Best Captaincy Survey is taken I am pretty sure after Steve Waugh

Posted by: c.g.venkatasubramanian [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
IT IS GOOD . FOR HIM ASWELL AS FOR THE GAME.PLS NOT FORCE SOME ONE WHO IS NOT INTERESTED TO DO IT.HEHAS DONE A WONDERFUL JOB LET HIM ENJOY CRICKET WHICH MORE IMPORTANT NOW FOR HIM/ INDIA. ALL THE VERY BEST FOR DRAVID.

Posted by: Ajay [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
EXCELLENT DECISION. ATLAST HE HAS REALISED SOME OF THE STUPID DECISIONS HE HAS TAKEN THROUGHOUT HIS CAPTAINCY WHICH REALLY HAS DONE MANY DAMAGES TO INDIAN CRICKRT

Posted by: Raj [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
Great news. He lost all his fans after he did not force a follow-on to England in the third test. Good that he did introspection and realized his mistakes during captaincy period.

Posted by: Sr. Madh [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
BCCI should persudade Dravid to continue, he had a great vision and he is a great player. I can see the Bongs calling to reinstate Ganguly (HAHA)

Posted by: Sandeep Sachdeva [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
It is very right decision for him. Actually he is great player, but captaincy is a different job all together. I personally feel he was not a great captain who can push the team in difficult situation. Undoubtedly he is great player who can support the team in difficult situation. I want him to be in team, but not as a captain. It is good for the Indian Team and for young players.

Posted by: Rony [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
Ganguly should come back again as a captain. Undoubtedly Dravid is a good player but not an aggresive captain.

Posted by: shanmugam [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
yeh he is taken a right deceision because he didnt possess an aggressive killing steatergy. dhoni should be made if he has the ability

Posted by: R P Singh [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
Only Sourav Ganguly can do justice to the vacant post. Though he might not perform well as a batsman while being captain, but he makes his boys perform to the fullest as Captain. Team India under him would be in attacking mode and not in defensive as in the case of Dravid. I think atleast now the BCCI should give this oppurtunity to Ganguly to make Team India as the Team which was in 2003.

Posted by: bharat [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
Because he feels pressure as captain and also not great leader like Sourabh ganguli. Now ganuli should come back as he find aplace in the team then shall as cqaptian. also Dhoni is not looking good as now so not burdened with captainship.

Posted by: Jebaraj [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
I think this is the best decision taken by Dravid in recent times. He is a good cricketer, no doubt. But he is is failed as a captain. Bengal Tiger must come back to lead the team.

Posted by: Venus [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
Dravid had enough of the BCCI Rule.He has shown his ability,the wall is not broken but needs time for reinvention. According to me he did the right thing.

Posted by: Laxminarayana [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
I think it is cold war

Posted by: JITENDRA G BHATIA [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
dravid was a excellent player and extraodinary skipper of an indian cricket team he should not resign from the post of skipper.

Posted by: jayant [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
Hope, India looses Dravid as a captain to gain him as a run-machine till he hangs the boots.

Posted by: Anumita [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
Very surprising decision...may be he was afraid of being pulled down....but he was always a good player and will surely be so....Come on DADA dekha do duniye ko.....!!!!

Posted by: SUBHABRATA BASU [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
At last a good decision. Nothing to worry about. Bring back the Bengal Tiger Sourav

Posted by: venkat [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
Thankyou Dravid for resigning. He is not a geniune leader. Captain should be aggressive not defensive. Ganguly can still be made a captain and im sure he will form another unbeatable Team India. or Yuvraj can be other potential candidate considering long term

Posted by: JayaSelvi [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
Sourav Ganguly, should be the next caption atleast for a few year, i think the caption should be aggressive, sourav have that

Posted by: Gangadhar Bandyopadhyay [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
Dravid was captain by accident, not a natural leader. But a fantastic player. Ganguly should come again.

Posted by: Balakrishna.B [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
Dravid is a Great professional. One does not know the reasons for his decision except him. If we take this in the right spirit it would help him as well the Indian cricket since he could play a critical role for the team and be a role model.

Posted by: ASHIM KUMAR MOOKHERJEE [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
Dear Rahul, I am really shocked, you are such person who have the ability to take all types of burden, so my request is to give a second thought about your decision. regards ashim k. mookherjee (09331021870)

Posted by: Arvind [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
The best thing to happen This is the best. The sick man who for just being the top dog decided to back stab his own captain has to go. The bad news he will be still around to irritate as a Dogs man( sorry bartsman).

Posted by: SUMITH [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
GOOD FOR THE INDIAN TEAM.hE WAS NOT AT ALL A TEAM MAN

Posted by: Kaushik Das Gupta [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
Dear NDTV, Why dont you check the information before posting? According to the report: Of 79 ODIs he played as captain, India won 42 of the matches and 33 were drawn. 33 were drawn??? IN ODIs??? Didn't India lose any match under his captaincy? I am pretty sure you will not publish this mail but still I would be happy if you rectify this error! Thanks, Kaushik

Posted by: ajay sancheti [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
The news of resignation of Rahul is very painfull. However at the same time , it will be an oppurtunuity for the yonger generation to take the baton from the seniors. He is such a fine player

Posted by: ravi [ 14 Sep 2007 ]
a big bad news for indians and 20/20 squad in durban. he is an fantastic athlete and have willpower to solve any problems. Can Bengal tiger is retain this job????????