Dravid wants Team India to put better show than 2006

Former captain, Rahul Dravid, expects the Indian cricket team to come up with even better performance in the upcoming West Indies tour than the one they demonstrated in 2006.

During India’s tour to West Indies in 2006, the team, under the superb captaincy of Dravid, made a mark in history by winning a Test series on West Indian soil after the long period of 35 years.
Dravid led his side to a triumph in the four-match series and become the only second Indian captain to have won Test series in Caribbean after Ajit Wadekar.

"We won the series there last time around but I hope we will do better this time," Dravid said.
However, the stylish batsman admitted that the Windies will not prove to be an easy opposition in their home conditions.

The former skipper added, "If the West Indies play their full strength side, they will be a tough team to beat. But it will be interesting to see if they have their full side."  

Dravid, widely known as ‘The Wall’, has served his country in 150 Tests in which he scored over 12000 runs at a fabulous average of 52.44.

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Sachin Rested, Yuvraj & Gauti Out, Mukund & Kohli Earn Test Cap

India's Already Weak Line Up Against West Indies in Test Series suffered another blow with the World Cup Hero Yuvraj Singh & The In-Form Gambhir OUT because of injury, Sachin Was rested for the entire Series. Flamboyant Virat Kohli finally gets a chance in test after his brilliant outing in World Cup & IPL and Tamil Nadu Opener A Mukund also earned a spot after a prolific Ranji Season.

Suresh Raina has been appointed captain for the one-dayers and the Twenty20 fixture and Harbhajan Singh, the vice-captain. 

Shikhar Dhawan and Manoj Tiwary have replaced Yuvraj and Gambhir in the limited-overs squad.  

So, in all India are without Sachin Tendulkar, Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj, Zaheer Khan, Gambhir and Ashish Nehra for the one-dayers.

Chairman Of Selectors K Srikkanth told the reporters :

 "I think we will do very well. I think we have an excellent team and I think as you know, I think all the last couple of years indirect or directly there have been teams that has been, we've always had teams, we've always kind of shuffled people so that, we always create a good bench strength."

And I think we have a fantastic bench strength and I'm sure India can easily produce almost two good international teams because we have the talent. We have the potential and I'm very confident that our team will do very well in West Indies and hopefully win the series in West Indies,"

He Also Said “Tendulkar deserved to take rest and then Yuvraj was not well, so we have picked the best available squad. We have analysed every problem… The injuries to the players… That is why the meeting took long,” said the former Test opener.

“We got very good inputs from the coach and the captain was also present. So I am really happy to have picked this squad. I think we will do well in the ODI and Test series,” he said."

Test squad: M S Dhoni (capt), V V S Laxman (vice-captain), M Vijay, Abhinav Mukund, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Subramaniam Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, S Sreesanth, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel (wk).

Limited-overs squad: Suresh Raina (capt), R Ashwin, S Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Amit Mishra, Munaf Patel, Parthiv Patel (wk), Yusuf Pathan, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Manoj Tiwary, Shikhar Dhawan.

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Rahul Dravid in West Indies

Dravid has scored in bilks in West Indies. Last time around, he was the captain. Gave India the series win by 1-0. He was MOM in the winning match and was also the MOS. All in all, WI has been an awesome place for Dravid where he averages 70.00 with 1260 runs under his belt.

One of his finest Test performance came at the Sabina Park, where he stood tall against pacy Jerome Taylor & Correy Collymore. Not just once. But in both the innings. He scored two monumental fifties (81 & 68) in the game and put India on the verge of a historic series win.

Apart from this, Dravid has 2 100s in WI. 144* & 146. Watch out for him this time.

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India Tour Of England : A Opportunity For Dravid

India tour of England 2011 schedule, India in England from July 21, 2011 to September 16, 2011, India cricket team played four Test match, five One-day international and one-off Twenty20 games against England in next summer. Read all information & live scores of IND v ENG series schedule, 21-Jul to 16-Sept-2011.

With India currently holding number one position in ICC test ranking, ECB thinks it will be great summer for English crowd to watch the battle between two good teams.
 

The four test matches will be played at Lord's, Trent Bridge, Edgbaston and The Oval. First test match will begin from July 21^st, while second will be played from 29^th July, third will be from August 10^th and final test will be played from 18^th August to 22^nd August 2011.

India will play only one twenty20 internationals against England on 31^st August 2011 at Old Trafford, Manchester. The ODI series will be played at Chester-le-Street, Southampton, London and Cardiff.

It Will Be A Great Chance For Our Dravid to prove his worth in tough conditions in ENGLAND

India in England 2011 Series Full Schedule: 

S.NO.	DAY DATE	TIME	TEAMS	VENUE
1	Thursday July 21, 2011	03:30 PM IST 10:00 GMT, 11:00 local	England Vs India, 1st Test	Lord's
2	Friday July 29, 2011	03:30 PM IST 10:00 GMT, 11:00 local	England Vs India, 2nd Test	Trent Bridge
3	Wednesday August 10, 2011	03:30 PM IST 10:00 GMT, 11:00 local	England Vs India, 3rd Test	Edgbaston
3	Thursday August 18, 2011	03:30 PM IST 10:00 GMT, 11:00 local	England Vs India, 4th Test	Brit Insurance Oval
4	Wednesday August 31, 2010	00:30 AM IST +1d 19:00 GMT, 20:00 local	England Vs India, Only T20	Old Trafford
5	Saturday September 3, 2011	02:45 PM IST 09:15 GMT, 10:15 local	England Vs India, 1st ODI	Emirates Durham ICG
6	Tuesday September 6, 2011	06:30 PM IST 13:00 GMT, 14:00 local	England Vs India, 2nd ODI	Rose Bowl
7	Thursday September 8, 2011	06:30 PM IST 13:00 GMT, 14:00 local	England Vs India, 3rd ODI	Brit Insurance Oval
8	Sunday September 11, 2011	02:45 PM IST 09:15 GMT, 10:15 local	England Vs India, 4th ODI	Lord's
9	Friday September 16, 2011	06:30 PM IST 13:00 GMT, 14:00 local	England Vs India, 5th ODI	Cardiff

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I hope we will do better in West Indies this time: Dravid

   

Former captain Rahul Dravid is hopeful about the Indian cricket team improving upon its 2006 performance in the upcoming tour of the West Indies.  During the 2006 West Indies tour, the Indian team created history under Dravid's captaincy when they won a Test series in the Caribbean for the first time in 35 years. 

"We won the series there last time around but I hope we will do better this time," he said on the sidelines of a promotional event.

"If the West Indies play their full strength side, they will be a tough team to beat. But it will be interesting to see if they have their full side." 

Dravid became only the second Indian skipper, after Ajit Wadekar, to have won a Test series in the West Indies when he led India to a 1-0 victory in a four-match rubber in 2006.

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Full-fledged WI will be strong: Dravid

MUMBAI: West Indies look a better side than what most thought after their thrilling 40-run win in the first Test against Pakistan at Georgetown, Guyana. However, will they be able to stand up to the might of world champs India in a series that begins in the Caribbeans from June 4? Rahul Dravid certainly thinks so.

He feels that if some of the top West Indian cricketers playing in the Indian Premier League - and not playing for the Windies for various reasons - return to international cricket, the Calypso Charmers will present a formidable challenge.

"I still think that a full-fledged West Indian team will be a very strong side to play against. But it will be interesting to see if they have their full side," Dravid said at a promotional event of the Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday. Former Windies skipper Chris Gayle, excluded from the team and involved in a run-in with the cricket authorities back home, has been in blistering form for the Royal Challengers Bangalore this season, having smashed an incredible 32 sixes and two hundreds, both unique feats in the context of the IPL. Other than the explosive opener, all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, Jerome Taylor and Kieron Pollard have also been playing in the League, instead of representing their country.

The former India skipper (remember!) led the team to a historic series win (1-0), the first in 35 years, in the Caribbean in 2006. This time, he will tour as just a player, that too in Tests. "We won the series there last time. I hope we will do better this time," said Dravid.

Analysing his IPL team's performances this season, which hasn't been great - Royals have lost seven, including the last four in a row, while winning just five out of 13 - Dravid said: "We are not in a position to get to the play-offs. We have got some up and down performances. There have been some good efforts too. We have some youngsters doing well for us. We can improve next year. We hope to do our best in the upcoming seasons."

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