New Delhi, Mar 9: Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly feels that Rahul Dravid should have retired after his brilliant Test series in England and said today's decision did not come as a surprise.
“I believe Rahul should have retired after the England series and not wait for the Australian tour. In any case this is a right decision and I saw it coming,” Ganguly told reporters at the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium here today.
Ganguly, under whose captaincy ‘The Wall' had played some brilliant knocks, felt the decision by Dravid is a statement to the selectors.
“With this decision Dravid has made a statement to the selectors that it is time for change in Indian cricket, as we have lost eight consecutive overseas Test matches. 8-0 is never a good sign.
“When Dravid came that was a period when Indian cricket was going through a transition phase and he is also leaving at a time when Indian cricket needs a change,” Ganguly said.
Asked whether there will be someone who will be able to replace Dravid at No. 3 slot, Ganguly replied, “You may not get anyone who will be able to replace Rahul Dravid but again you can not continue forever because it took 16 years and 13,000 runs in Test cricket to make a Rahul Dravid.”
Asked about a possible replacement of Dravid, Ganguly said, “Virat Kohli is playing well and Rohit Sharma has the talent, but he needs to translate into performance, also there is Manoj Tiwary and Cheteshwar Pujara. There are names but you have to give them a chance to know how they perform.”
Asked to pick a favourite Dravid inning, Ganguly said, “180 at Calcutta (now Kolkata) against Australia tops my list. 148 at Headingly was also good but the situation in Calcutta was far more difficult.”
