Back to the grind

The late evening weekday rush hour is at its peak and the subway leading to Churchgate railway station is busy guzzling down the sea of office-goers.

The late evening weekday rush hour is at its peak and the subway leading to Churchgate railway station is busy guzzling down the sea of office-goers. While on the crowded footpath, a few meters before going underground, the unsuspecting star-gazers among the 9-to-5 workforce are so pre-occupied in finding their way through the human maze that they don8217;t realise they8217;re missing a golden opportunity.

A quick, focused glance to the left would have resulted in a star-sighting but even the cricket-crazies in the thick swarm are more focused on grabbing a window seat for the long journey ahead. It8217;s dusk and that makes Rahul Dravid8217;s entry into Hotel Astoria 8212; a modest destination for mostly business travellers, conveniently located at merely a stone8217;s strong throw away at Churchgate 8212; easy and anonymous.

The former India captain isn8217;t an Astoria regular but since he will be playing the Karnataka vs Saurashtra Ranji Trophy quarter-final starting on Friday, five-star luxury doesn8217;t come along with this humble territory. Till Tuesday, he had been with the Indian Test team and behind a many-layered security cover, but on Wednesday the only thing between him and the man on street was the glass door being guarded by a watchman with a welcoming smile.

Till late afternoon on Wednesday, there was some ambiguity about the timing of Dravid8217;s arrival. Several Saurashtra players at the nets session had a common question: 8220;Is he playing?8221; they asked, with little doubt about who they were referring to. The Karnataka team had a practice session in the morning minus Dravid and that8217;s how uncertainty was triggered.

Dravid8217;s score of 136 in the first innings at Mohali Test saw him end a long slump but the 19-ball duck didn8217;t quite go with the 8216;He8217;s back8217; headlines. There might be heated debates in the cricket circles around the country about Dravid8217;s form but speak to the cricketers on the domestic circuit and one realises that, for them, the halo hasn8217;t faded at all.

Reputation intact

Saurashtra8217;s batting mainstay and Indian cricket8217;s new kid on the block Cheteshwar Pujara doesn8217;t quite enjoy that unimaginative and burdensome tag of 8216;Next Dravid8217;. The 19-year-old has had several interactions with Dravid in the past and he is quite excited that one of these days, at the Brabourne Stadium, he will get another opportunity.

Several times since he landed here, Pujara has rehearsed the question he will ask Dravid when he meets him. 8220;I just want to ask him the difference between domestic and international cricket. And the ways in which I can deal with the higher competition when the time comes,8221; he says.

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Two years ago, Pujara had met Dravid during a Ranji game in Rajkot. That was the time when Dravid was at the helm of Indian cricket and in peak form. A lot has changed since then but Dravid8217;s reputation among his peers hasn8217;t. 8220;There is lot to learn from him. Even the mere thought of replacing him doesn8217;t come to my mind,8221; Pujara says.

Saurashtra8217;s old hand Sitanshu Kotak, whose first class debut almost coincides with Dravid8217;s, breaks into a smile when he hears that Dravid is tentative in his stroke-play these days. 8220;He scored a Test hundred just the other day, didn8217;t he? He is too great a batsman to be tentative for long. And that too at the Ranji level, you must be joking,8221; he says.

Kotak, with his 19 years of domestic experience, says that playing Ranji makes one8217;s mind free and can help one iron out all flaws of even the best players. Add to that the brief period of anonymity, and who knows, it could be turn out to be the perfect four-day therapy for Dravid.