Dravid in an unenviable position

The Indian team management looks set to open with Rahul Dravid, and rightly so, for that is the only way they can accommodate their top batsmen in the side.

Dravid opening the batting was a foregone conclusion once Yuvraj Singh knocked up that bright ton in the final Test against Pakistan. You can not drop a man in such immense form, and when you don’t have a solid opening pair, it leaves you with little choice than to move one of the middle-order batsmen up the order. At least that is how things go in Indian cricket, where grooming specialist openers has not been a tradition.

Dravid, no doubt is the best option from among the middle-order batsmen to face the new ball, but it also has to do with the tons knocked up by the remaining batsmen in Tests just gone by. Once having had to don the gloves to retain his place in the ODI team or to add depth to the side, depending on how you look at it, Dravid had little choice but to offer opening in the Tests.

That Virender Sehwag was only a stand-by rather than an option was clear when he was not played in the practice match against Victoria. The Delhi batsman has been woefully out of form and was he in the scheme of things, would have played that match to regain the touch that can be the cause of a leather hunt.

In fact, Sehwag is a back-up opener in Australia, which means that pressure might well mount on Dravid. A couple of failures up the order and Sehwag could well be brought in for the Karnataka batsman unless there are other failures too.

It may not be a nice feeling for Dravid to have someone breathing down his neck in such an important series. Just having given up captaincy, it is time for him to get back in top form, but now he has to do it as an opener. Though opening the batting may give him more time in the middle, there is always the risk of an early dismissal with a huge slip cordon in place.

Dravid’s predecessor, Sourav Ganguly, has had no qualms in admitting that being relieved of captaincy has helped him concentrate on the game. The sequence of events and performances over the past season have resulted in a sea change and now Ganguly is the man with both form and confidence after going through a depressing phase of his career.

The left-hander had produced an inspirational ton in the first Test in Brisbane as India squared the Test series on the last tour, and with the kind of form the Indian batsmen have been in, they are expected to do one better.

Ganguly had given his best as a captain against Steve Waugh’s team that was stopped in its tracks after a record run of 16 successive Test wins and he now gets set to reach the milestone of 100 Tests against the same opposition.

Ganguly and Dravid may be in contrasting stages of their careers, but they are both crucial to India’s fortunes despite the presence of other big names in the batting line-up. The confidence of a resolute Dravid and the aggression of a doughty Ganguly will go a long way in helping their team against the mighty Aussies.