As Rahul Dravid enjoyed his lavish English breakfast spread at Northampton on Saturday morning,the only thought on his mind was how to negate the swinging red ball that has caused much distress to Team India on the England tour. At around the same time,the national selectors back in Chennai decided to give Dravid more food for thought by adding the white leather of the shorter formats to his practice schedule. But by the time it was supper in England,Dravid had announced his retirement from limited-overs cricket. The one-off T20 game and the five one-day internationals against England that succeeds the ongoing Test series will officially be his last in the respective formats. I am announcing my retirement from ODIs and T20s following the series against England. Thereafter,I will focus only on Test cricket, said Dravid,following the end of the two-day tour game against Northamptomshire that he didnt play. In the short term it (his selection) is excitement for sure. (but) I was honestly surprised, Dravid added. Thanks to an interesting selection by chief selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth and the rest of the committee on Saturday,Dravid will make a final return to the limited-over formats in England. He is not new to comebacks. While the 38-year-old played the last of his ODIs as a regular in the side in October 2007,he had to carry his coloured kit to Sri Lanka for a comeback during the tri-series in 2009,and travelled with the side to South Africa for the Champions Trophy later that year. With the youngsters in the side struggling against the short ball,old hand Dravid was seen as a quick-fix solution two years back,only to be dropped soon after following Indias early exit from the event. But once again,thanks to the string of poor performances during the first two Tests and injuries to key players such as Yuvraj Singh Dravid will return after another two-year hiatus,in the hope of overturning Indias losing battle against the English fast bowlers. Having scored two centuries in the first two Tests he has been Indias standout performer Srikkanth is using his form as the perfect reason for his surprise selection. We have selected the team on basis of the conditions in England. And after a lot of deliberation,Im sure we have picked a very good side, Srikkanth said. But werent the selectors fixed on grooming youngsters for the shorter formats? According to a national selector,that wasnt the case. We never said we wont consider any player after a particular age. Dravid is a great player and is in excellent form. He hasnt retired from limited overs cricket. So,considering the English conditions and quality of the opposition,he is our best bet to lend solidity to the middle order, the selector told The Sunday Express. The selection committee decided to fall back on Dravids experience to counter arguably the worlds best bowling attack in English conditions. So,Dravid,who has 10,765 runs in 339 ODIs,is back to doing what he does best saving the team when in need. In this case,one last time.
