Twelve runs, Dravid and leading from the front

By John Cheeran
How sensible was Indian skipper Rahul Dravid’s decision to not to enforce the follow on England?
If I were the Indian captain I would have weighed the team’s options and still would have asked England to follow on.
That would have forced Michael Vaughan to sort out the pace of the last two days of the Test. That would have been quite a nervy task even for a cool head such as Vaughan.
To make sense out of the last two days England had to score quick runs first to overcome the 300-plus deficit and set India at least 175 runs as a second innings target in the last three sessions of the Test.
But Dravid has taken the onus on himself to dictate the pace of the Test and given an opportunity for England to win.
And Dravid already has paid the price for the decision to not to enforce the follow on. His struggle at the crease in the second innings after the loss three quick wickets was not for himself but for the Indian cause.
Having said that, I’m sure a well-defined assignment should convert England batsmen to suicide bombers, and make no mistake, they will hurl their bats at Indians with all their might.