This double role146;s a hit

It would be silly to conclude that 8217;keeping per se makes him a better batsman. But a logical corollary that 8217;keeping makes his place in the team more secure and him more relaxed is not too far-fetched. He knows today that as long as he keeps, his place in the team won8217;t be threatened. In fact, it is often looked at as a favour he does the team. Like most all-rounders, he has two areas to do well in. And being a disciplined and sincere cricketer, he has strived hard to excel in his roles.

In the current Indian set-up, Mohammed Kaif is the only batsman who can8217;t bowl. There isn8217;t space for one more, which would be the case if Dravid were to stop. That makes Dravid redundant for half the match. As a 8217;keeper and middle order bat, Dravid gets time to rest for at least 20-25 overs when India bats 8211; enough time for someone who has confessed his fitness has improved by leaps and bounds in recent times. The Indian team management under John Wright and Saurav Ganguly have made a number of hard decisions. One more needs to be made: forget Parthiv Patel currently averaging 12.50 and retain Dravid as batsman-keeper for the next few years.

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