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Dravid's ODI average heads for the skies
The burden of captaincy has turned greats into mortals. But Dravid is different, writes Rajneesh Gupta.
In the euphoria of India’s victory at Kochi – their eighth consecutive win and 15th consecutive successful chase - one very important feat achieved by Rahul Dravid was easily overlooked by all and sundry.
While youngsters like Yurvaj, Raina, Pathan and Dhoni are getting all the credit for India’s remarkable success in the shorter version of the game, the contribution of skipper Rahul Dravid in transforming the fortunes of this side has gone almost unnoticed.
At the end of Kochi one-dayer, Dravid has aggregated 1322 runs in 36 matches in which he has captained India. His tally also includes one hundred and 13 fifties in this period. More importantly, Dravid’s average of 45.59 is now the highest for any player, who has captained his country in 10 matches or more.
Dravid took this honour from Pakistan’s Inzamam-ul-Haq, who has scored 2320 runs in 68 matches at an average of 45.49. New Zealand’s Martin Crowe comes next. The burden of captaincy has turned many great players into ordinary mortals, but Dravid perhaps seems to have been made of a different metal altogether!
The following table lists the batsmen who have achieved highest average with the bat while captaining their respective sides:
