Karthik007’s Blog

Former Sri Lanka skipper Arjuna Ranatunga, who had predicted that Rahul Dravid would bounce back from his lean phase, was on Monday (December 22) effusive in his praise of the middle-order batsman who notched a century against England in the second Test in Mohali.

“Dravid is a fighter. That is why I said he would come back on his own soon as he has grit and determination besides the stamp of a world class batsman,” Ranatunga said.

“It is not without reason that he has surpassed 10,000 runs in Test cricket. He was going through a lean phase and I knew he would fight it out,” Ranatunga said on Dravid’s 136 that resurrected his career.

Dravid, 35, crafted a confident century, his first in 20 Test innings.

Rantunga said though the “wall” had used correct techniques, he was often unfortunate in getting dismissed for low scores.

The former World Cup winning captain and Chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket said players like Dravid should be treasured since he can still contribute a lot to the game.

“Dravid should be encouraged as he has contributed to many wins for India and has some years of cricket left,” Ranatunga said.

He said Indian batsmen were getting their act together and going by current form, India could be ranked one of the best in the world.

The 45-year-old cricketer-turned-lawmaker also had a word of praise for the Indian fast bowlers and said both Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan have been performing with a lot of consistency and were coming up with good spells.