CHANDIGARH, JAN 9: With two centuries in the same Test and another in the one-day international at Taupo today, the cricket selectors may have finally noticed that Rahul Dravid, who turns 26 on Monday, has come of age.It also confirms his growing stature as one of the most assured contemporary batsmen alongside Sachin Tendulkar. Ever since he first took strike against England at the Lord's in 1996, Dravid's runs have come against all manner of opposition, mostly abroad, under varying circumstances and in a brittle Indian middle-order. He scored his maiden century (148 not out) against South Africa at Johannesburg in January '97 when the Indians were fighting to save face in the wake of a hostile South African pace attack on a wicket where it was difficult to differentiate the pitch from the outfield, so green it was. In the same series, he scored 84 at Durban as he carted a venom-spitting Allan Donald to all parts of the park. But India and Dravid's luck have rarely run the same course andIndia lost the match. Though it should have established Dravid as a complete batsman in both versions of the game, the five wise men, however, decided otherwise. This month in Hamilton, with India tottering at 211 for 7 and the possibility of another defeat looming large, Dravid added 205 runs with numbers nine and 10 while notching up a 190 for himself. It was also one of his most strokeful knocks, as he put away anything loose. He led an encore in the second innings.Today, with a hundred in a one-dayer, Dravid has given yet another reply to the selectors. Still, no one has assured him of a permanent place in the side for one-dayers.Whether the selectors notice it or not, the New Zealand tour actually did more than rediscover Dravid, it exposed the limitations of the Indian batsmen when playing in seaming conditions. Come summer and the World Cup, the Indians will once again be tested on the best English wickets. It will be truly surprising if Dravid does not take guard at number three.SaidRavi Shastri: ``Rahul Dravid is an asset to the Indian team, be it in Test cricket or one-day internationals (ODIs). We have to ensure his success in both the forms and for that he must play ODIs. If ever the conditions don't allow on a particular day, don't play him in the eleven but he has to be with the team all the time.''But there are areas where the teenage icon will have to pull his weight. For instance, May '97, when Dravid blunted the Pakistani attack with his 107 at Chennai as India began a 300-plus chase in the Independence Cup match. But the heat and humidity almost sapped him as he pulled India well within sight of what would have been an incredible win. A Dravid who takes the team to victory is a shade more useful than one who leaves it lurking within sight, simply because his body cannot take the exertion. A tired-looking Dravid at Hamilton proved the point again. But this is nothing that a tight fitness regimen can't cure. What will take some doing is one-day game.Dravid has few problemswith copybook strokeplay but his approach could do with some bending. His inability to rotate the strike in ODIs has come in for some flak. Also he must get a grip on placing the ball in the gaps or dropping it close for a quick single. Improving his running between wickets will certainly help.Dravid can score even while sticking to the coaching manual. He also needs to play the ball more off the square in ODIs. That may be dangerous, but his insistence on playing groundstrokes in the V can prompt rivals to plug the gaps and frustrate him by denying runs. Also, he could do with some help in the fielding department. Forward short leg is fine in Tests but in ODIs he needs a stronger throwing arm for getting in from the outfield or the 30-yard circle.Increasingly resembling Dilip Vengsarkar in his style, Dravid is fast catching up with Azhar as the best player on the on-side, in the arc between the mid-wicket and the bowler, though the captain still remains dominant in the arc between fine-leg andmid-wicket.But it's hard to ignore that Azhar, for all his penchant for fitness, will be 36 in February. When you look beyond him, you don't have many alternatives as far as the captaincy is concerned. Tendulkar's brush with captaincy was hardly successful and the amount of runs he is piling after being stripped of it, is only making the chasm between him and his reappointment wider. With vice-captain Ajay Jadeja looking increasingly uncertain of a Test position, a carefully groomed Dravid would fit in well with a wise head on his wide shoulders. And anyway as the Indian cricketer who wears pride, rather than any logo, on his shirt, Dravid would be the first to qualify.
