Brick in the Wall

We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey teacher leave us kids alone
All in all you're just another brick in the wall
All in all you're just another brick in the wall

It was a must to reach out for the old Pink Floyd CD on Friday night after coming to terms with Rahul Dravid’s decision not to lead Team India again. Somehow, a lot many people like me have got to associate Dravid’s nickname ‘The Wall’ with Pink Floyd’s number.
Perhaps, when the band composed this famous number decades back, none would have even thought of any association with cricket. But as cricket world’s ‘The Wall’ conveyed his decision to the Board of Control for Cricket in India, it was with all emotions in check.
In the past (I won’t mention names) captains in many sport at home have used the media selectively to leak out information that they are planning to quit. One paper’s scoop could well become a nightmare for the rival papers. No, but in The Wall’s case, his last appearance before the media when he was still captain in the Capital on Friday was a quiet one.
Dravid has always known to be a man who maintained utmost dignity, for whom cricket was a canvas larger than life. Perhaps, it was his inability to cope with certain hard realities of being Team India skipper, he decided to walk away from the most demanding job with his head held high.
History is replete with several instances when cricket captains have had to leave only after they were shown the writing was on the wall. Why, even the master tactician and ruthless Steve Waugh had to quietly leave or else the Oz board would have had to say goodbye to him.
This has been a very demanding cricket season. And for Dravid the captain, handling the disappointments of the World Cup in the West Indies was very tough. Unlike many other captains who would have liked to look for excuses, Dravid kept quiet. He had, in fact, told people he was ready to quit then.

After that, The Wall had to go and prove himself in Bangladesh, Ireland and then England. Dravid knew this was certainly his last tour to England, but could there have been anything better than winning the Test series in Old Blighty after 21 years and losing a nerve-jangling ODI series 3-4.
It was just less than a fortnight back, India won that sixth ODI against all odds in England. Dravid knew if he had lost that match, carping critics would have torn him apart for certain decisions. And the biggest of them all: Allowing a part-time bowler like Yuvraj Singh to bowl the 50th over. Yuvi got plundered by an unknown Mascarenhas and India had to chase a mountain of a total. They achieved it. Had India lost that very night, Dravid may have decided to say goodbye then and there.
At a time when time India were doing well in England, Dravid’s own batting has suffered. For a man who has steered India out of troubled waters time and again with his stodgy approach and long stays at the crease resulting in a big ton, loss of form has been worrying.
I reckon, any other captain would have just continued because in India rarely do skippers get questioned unless the performance has been abysmal. Or there are events leading to a situation with a difficult coach like Greg Chappell deciding the fate of Dada.
To be sure, despite scoring just 126 runs in three Tests at an average of 25.20 and 223 runs in seven ODIs in England, had it been a captain other than Dravid, he could have still felt comfortable. Not the Wall, who perhaps has actually realized, rather than wait for the guillotine, it’s better to again work on your footwork and technique and again score runs. That’s The Wall he wants his millions of fans to remember him as.

Last but not the least, Dravid is a shrewd man who knows what plugs and leaks in the media are all about. First, we have a story saying Sachin Tendulkar wants to retire and then the maestro denies it. Perhaps, all this was well-thought out, how to have stories in print which will have a ripple effect.

Just that I did not imagine it would get so serious where the captain decides to move on. It was very different to see Dravid as the man in charge in on tough tours with two ex-captains under him. The Wall has done his bit for regrouping the Indian bunch. Dravid wants to score runs again and he will do it.