At the point when we talk about effective Indian captains the discussion for the most part turns around Kapil Dev, Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni. And to a limited degree current captain Virat Kohli, fundamentally due to his unmatched record in Test cricket. Rahul Dravid would once in a while highlight in such a discussion. Much like Sachin Tendulkar, Dravid is remembered more as an amazing batsman than an effective captain of the team. However, ask the players who played under Dravid during 2005 and 2007, you may find an alternate solution. Suresh Raina is one of those who rates Dravid profoundly as a captain.
Raina, who has played plenty of matches under Dravid at the start of his cricket career. He reviewed an India versus Pakistan ODI in 2006 to explain the greatness of Dravid’s guidance and game understanding aptitudes.
In the fourth ODI at Multan, Pakistan were 14 for no misfortune when Irfan Pathan began to bowl his fourth and India’s seventh over. Salman Butt took a single and the strike had returned to Pakistan wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal.
Akmal then was known to be a dasher. He gave fast beginnings to Pakistan and was especially solid square of the wicket. After a steady initial six overs, Dravid detected something occurring. He realized it was a matter of time when Akmal will go for the aerial shot.
Raina clarified how Dravid had unexpectedly requested him to stand at short-point and be prepared for an upward cut shot.
Raina remembers the smaller details of the match
“I remember the catch against Pakistan which I had taken at point. Rahul Dravid was our captain, Irfan Pathan was the bowler and Kamran Akmal was batting. There was a rule at that time to keep catching fielders in the 15 yards. So Rahul bhai asked me will you stand at point? I said ‘yes please tell me where to stand’. He said lean forward and be ready to take a catch,” Raina told Kapil Dev in an interview for ABP News.
As it turned out, the following ball from Pathan was a sucker ball outside off stump and Akmal took the lure. He made a decent association yet hit it directly to Raina, who took a sharp reflex catch.
“The moment Irfan delivered the next ball, Akmal smashed it hard, I just saw the ball and it came straight into my hands. The thing that impressed me most was that Rahul bhai knew it that a catch might come there and it came in the next delivery,” Raina said.
The left-hander further clarified why the catch stays extraordinary for him by saying that the captain, bowler, and defender were included similarly.
“The reason why I remember that catch is that captain, bowler, fielder everybody was involved. And it is a job of the fielder to always be ready for a catch,” said Raina.
Pakistan were bowled out 161 as RP Singh (4/40) and Irfan Pathan (3/26) went through Pakistan’s batting line-up.
In answer, Dravid scored 59 and Raina stayed unbeaten on 32 as India pursued down the objective in 32.3 overs with five wickets close by.
Share This Post
