hmm.........nice interpretation of the impact of T20 on some of the cricket greats like Dravid......
I 2 m a huge Dravid fan........he has been an all time gr8 test player &'ll probably feature in all time World XI in test matches.....He's playing reasonably well in this format as we saw his innings against CSK dis ipl (2011) .....66 of 51 balls.......
But ya he's an average T20 player & players like Pathan,Pollard,Valthaty outscore him on consistent basis in this format of the game...... but then again u cannot be the best in everything u do...

Great start !!!

You are right Apoorv, for me 20/20 is like an action thriller movie, one dayers are like adventure one and tests are like a slow love story. now its your taste to

Depends on how you look at it...T20 is an opener's game (or at most up to No. 3) and the explosive hitters. Dravid is never the latter. Numerous greats including Sachin, Kallis, Ganguly found the going tough in 2008. But while the latter 3 (especially Sachin and Kallis) had a consistent run as openers and were allowed to play their "natural" game, Dravid went all over the batting order as usual (you know the team-man stuff). So now Sachin and Kallis have much higher averages, more runs, with similar strike rate as Dravid's. They are also deemed successful T20 players now. I think it has EVERYTHING to do with getting your preferred batting position and being allowed to play your natural game that made the difference here.

While it has to be admitted that T-20s have had and will continue to have an enormous appeal for the spectators, given the exciting format and the kind of publicity it generates, it is surprising to contemplate that "greats" like Dravid and Ganguly compete in this format just to make a statement and rise above the shadows of the "mere mortals". I personally find it difficult to understand what motivates a Dravid or a Laxman to compete in this format, and face the ignominy of having to go through an auction which clearly doesn't show any respect to their greatness.

IPL anyways doesn't boast of high standards of cricket, and that probably is why lesser players rule the roost. For someone who has world-class centuries in every test-playing country in the world, it probably is a better idea to take a step back, and enjoy some powerful hitting and improvised bowling from the comforts of a drawing room, with some beer maybe, and also a glint of a smile at the falling standards of cricket.

T20 cricket is exciting but the real test is test cricket...A quality test cricketer can play in all forms of thhe game but a good T20 player may not be succesful in 50 ovr or test cricket where you are required to face attacking bowling will not much field restrictions.

A dravid, Laxman,Ganguly had some successful t20 games under their belt..although not consistently but I doubt whether a pollard, Pathan will ever be that successful in tests....in fact Pathan had a pretty average World cup in ODIs...

Rightly said Sayan, definition of cricket and cricketing heroes will be redefined. T20 format will change the overall perspective of this game as its already started doing this. quality players are already under pressure of how to meet the expectations of people who want a hit on every ball. Now, even if you have good cricketing sense, you will accept an inner edge that results on 4 as a good t20 format shot. players who used to place their shots on ground (mean good cricketing shots) are now trying to loft the ball over the covers or leg fielders for a six. this is the new definition of the game. Class players like Laxman, ganguly, dravid and Mohammad yousuf has no place in this "Hit n run" format.

finally, this format has its own taste, people like t20 format and have given good response, so this is the format of the future. we must fine tune our minds to this and forget the rolling shots of the past.

Well, complete respect for Dravid and his class in the Test format. However, you can't blame the format (in this case T20) if a player can't adapt to it. Not everyone can be a universal star and sadly Dravid isn't. Best examples of universal stars are Sachin and Kallis, and to some extent Gambhir and Sehwag who can and have proven themselves in all formats. Sachin won the orange cap last year and could well win it this year as well. Not that your article is directly intended to bash the format, although many articles these days do that, its just unfair to undermine the format because some players fail at it and keep attempting to prove themselves.

What the Indian fan has to embrace eventually is that it is about the "team" and not the individual player. In the US, all leagues ( NBA/NFL etc ) it is finally about the team winning. The common fan wants his city/state to win. Whatever it takes - get anybody from anywhere but MY city/state has to win. In India, it has been different. The average fan will take a sachin century over the fact that India eventually lost. So we seem to be in search of heroes. Just like our movies.

as Sarath Chandra has mentioned, it depends on how u look it.. Also t20 batting can be a flash-in-pan sorta stuff n a batsman has to show some consistency - somebody like mike hussey playing for CSK is a good example..but with the kind of matches in all forms we are seeing today, i wud say fans know wht to look for in each format.. t-20 is like a junkie food which u can't hav for a meal always..

Well it is a pleasure seeing Rahul Dravid compete and challenge himself to play in this format too. He has time and again, throughout his career lived up to all the challenges faced. So, i disagree with Mr. Gupta's view that perhaps the former greats should not compete.

And yes, my loyalties will travel along with Rahul Dravid. :) Cheers to IPL.

Great article! I feel the same way, and also that the quality of cricket is very low in the IPL, and the addition of two teams more has decimated it further. What Sayan said below is very true. People are made stars overnight but it takes time to gain substance. Besides, shuffling up the teams is absolute nonsense. Now there are barely three sides which can be called a "team", and the fan base is confused as well. I mean teams like DD and KXIP are a big joke and there is no sense of consistency or the look of an actual cricket unit in any team barring MI KKR and CSK. Personally I think the Big Bash League is going to be way better, judging by what I've seen in the KFC BigBash. The IPL has become senseless, boring and pathetically low-standard. The one good thing it does is it makes you crave madly a good hard-fought session of Test cricket!

Thanks Himanish.
The intent behind the article wasnt placing blame on any format. It was merely to express the frustration of a fan, who suddenly finds too much changing around him.

Its unfortunate to watch Dravid a little lost amid all the madness :)

Thanks Himanish.
The intent behind the article wasnt placing blame on any format. It was merely to express the frustration of a fan, who suddenly finds too much changing around him.

Its unfortunate to watch Dravid look a little lost at a trade that he has excelled at for so long.

@Prady.. if you actually look at the IPL stats of Kallis, Tendulkar and Dravid, they are all similar. I read this somewhere...if Dravid faced the same number of balls as Tendulkar has, he would only be 30 odd runs behind. Sachin only got the orange cap because he opens. Dravid batted at 5/6/7 at RCB.