Rahul Dravid's one-day philosophy

By John Cheeran
When Indian cricket team captain speaks, we should listen.
Rahul Dravid the other day said in his hometown Bengaluru that India's lack of consistency in Champions Trophy and Kuala Lumpur series was largely due to the collective failure of the top players and the team could regain its winning momentum only if that was corrected.
But Dravid could not tell the world how he and fellow Bengaluru resident Greg Chappell are going to do those corrections. May be that’s a secret best kept between these two.
As long as they correct the collective failure, and success pops up as a result, I should be happy.
Let me quote Dravid. "I just think that we need to get performances from a lot of our key players. Last season when we were doing really well, lot of players in the team were performing consistently and were playing not only up to their potential, sometimes even above their potential.
"For the last 2-3 series we have not been able to get consistent performances from most of our key players. That's something you need to correct. There's quality in the team but we need to get back into putting in consistent personal performances which will help the team,'' he said. All this we know, Dravid.
And do not speak like a seasoned politician. All India knows who are these key players, who are not performing consistently. Or bluntly put, are consistently coming up with single digit scores.
Why don’t you help them from their plight by showing the exit door?
I do not expect Dravid to explain the rationale behind Dilip Vengsarkar’s surprise choices for South Africa. But being a leader does not mean you should not look facts in their face and demand what you require to defeat the best in the business.
Dravid, however, has made it clear that Anil Kumble will play a crucial role in India’s World Cup campaign in West Indies. "Obviously Anil's experience and his knowledge will hopefully help us. We always had him in our plans. But we need to manage Anil in terms of the amount of cricket he plays. Leading into the World Cup, now we can give him enough games so that he goes into the big tournament ready and fit to play,'' he said.
"Both the Test and one-day series in South Africa are very important. We haven't done very well in South Africa in the past and we would like to put in good performances in both versions there. That would give us a lot of confidence leading into the World Cup. “There's a tri-series as well (after the South African tour), so there are some games and a chance to hopefully get our key players back in form and in full fitness before the World Cup,'' Dravid said.
In Dravid’s worldview there are not much worrying signals ahead of the World Cup.
“We have got to focus on each game, try and play at our best, take one game at a time and by the time World Cup comes we should be in good shape,'' he says.
That’s a good line every captain should learn, rehearse and try to deliver as a one-day philosophy.