Image courtesy of: The Hindu
Dravid noted that many of the youngsters have made promising starts to their careers
Legendary India batsman Rahul Dravid has announced that the national team’s recent triumph at the Champions Trophy has somewhat numbed all the grief and pain caused by the Indian Premier League (IPL) match-fixing scandal.
“I think we needed a good positive story,” Dravid said. “We needed some cheer in our cricket. We needed some happiness in our cricket. There is no doubt about that. I think it’s great that we had lot of positive stories to write about in these two or three weeks.
“As an Indian fan, it was a heartening tournament to watch for me personally, just to see how well the team played but also from a point of view that it was a great story for Indian cricket at a time like this.”
During the last ever edition of the tournament, India ripped through their opponents and remained unbeaten after defeating host England in a nail-biting final by five runs.
Dravid praised the national selectors for making the tough decision of replacing numerous veteran players with younger talents, but also added that senior members like Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir may be given a second shot at any time.
“I think hats off to the selectors in this particular Champions Trophy,” he said. “They have been brave and they made some calls in which they could have been criticised. But it has worked out for them. When they do those things, you need to give them credit.
“I think credit to the team, Dhoni and his boys for playing one of the finest overseas tournament I have seen, any Indian team play in a long long time.
“I think it has been a fantastic tournament for India. They have played exceptional cricket. By far, they were the dominating team in the competition. Dhoni has done a great job with the team.
“As well as I thought, all the youngsters who have got the opportunity have looked up to their potential in this tournament. It is really exciting times for Indian cricket.”
However, Dravid stated that many of the youngsters still have to learn to capitalise on the excellent starts they make.
“We would like to believe that (this is the team for the future),” he added. “But as you know in cricket, you have to keep performing all the time. As fans of the game and as fans of Indian cricket, we can hope that these guys go on and establish themselves and build on the start that they have got.”
Coming back to the point about senior players, Dravid added that it would be difficult for them to regain their spots in the side after the youngsters who replaced them have already shown a lot of promise.
“There is never an end for anybody,” Dravid said. “I have been around cricket long enough to know things can change very quickly. And all the players who missed out are class players. You can never say when they perform and when they come back. Never say never for anybody.
“Obviously the guys are performing and it has become difficult. There is still some lot of quality and class in people who were left out. They may bounce back as well.”