Captaincy takes a lot out of you: Dravid

The thought of stepping down had crossed his mind after India’s early exit from the World Cup in the West Indies for which he felt responsible, Dravid said, adding, “but I still felt that I had the strength and energy to do it then” in the hope that things could be turned around.

However, towards the end of the ODI series against England which ended this month, he had begun considering resigning.

“But I did not want to take any decision there without first speaking to my family and wanted to give it a few days back home to see if I felt differently before taking a final call”, he said.

The decision was “personal and based on my observation of whether I would be able to give it my very best like I have always tried to”, Dravid said.

The former Indian skipper was of the view that “there is a shelf life to captaincy in India in which you can give it your best”.

“May be the shelf life are becoming shorter as time goes by”, he commented.