Captain courageous

Rahul Dravid never made it to the top echelons of Indian cricket in the way Sachin, Saurav, Gavaskar & Kapil did. But what he has managed to do ever since he's begun playing for the country is seldom acknowledged & rarely applauded in the manner it deserves. Match after match, innings after innings, he's delivered .... & delivered when it mattered the most, when it was absolutely essential that someone raise their hand & do the job. The fact that his batting average for innings outside the subcontinent exceeds that for innings within it is testimony to this.

The reason I'm writing this is because he's been doing the rescue act .... yet again in the ongoing India vs England tests. India are 1-0 up at the moment with a surprise victory at Mohali in the 2nd test, but they are in trouble in the 3rd test at Bombay & the Captain is there again at the crease leading by example. Hats off to Rahul!

Incidentally, Sachin was booed off the ground yesterday after he fell for yet another poor score (1), & this time it was his home town crowd booing him! Even Saurav didn't have to face this ignominy ever. Sachin never delivers under pressure .... one can't even remember the last time he got India out of trouble .... & I think the people are realizing this, .... about time they did.