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Fair and unfair - like the two sides of the coin perhaps. Being ped from the team is like a nightmare which every cricketer goes through in his career unless he has that sense of timing to retire before he is shown the 'exit' door. Where Dravid stands today cannot be said with ease.

One of the finest cricketers of modern times, Dravid is at the crossroads of either saying 'bye' to the game which he has served so faithfully or trying his luck by being around for a while more. If one goes by his standards of fine sense of timing, my feeling is that he will not stay there for long to be called back and may retire sooner than later. Dravid has been a great ambassador for India and has shown the discipline and matured behaviour both as a player and a captain too.

At no time has he been found wanting with his efforts on the field while playing for India. It is sad that a player of Dravid's class and calibre has also to bow to the whims and fancies of the ors. The ors have been ruthless in ping Dravid while still retaining the other old horses like Ganguly and Tendulkar for reasons best known to them. In fact, one is most amused by the recall of Virender Sehwag who has not done anything worthy with the bat. The 'Wall' will now surely try and find other avenues which will be plenty for Dravid. Indeed it is a sad state to see an Indian cricket team without Dravid who always exhibited solidity with the willow especially when the chips were down. Although Dravid has a couple of years of good cricket still with him, it is hard to imagine if we will see the same old flame especially after being ped from the team. The comeback, if ever, will be insignificant and there will only be a few flashes with the bat from someone who battered the bowling on his day.

For sure, the game of cricket is a great leveller and even the high and mighty have fallen on their off days. As they say, yesterday's hero is today's zero and vice versa. On hindsight, one can see the ors paving the way for the old brigade to be eased out of the team while bringing in the youngsters. Very soon, the likes of Tendulkar and Ganguly will be on the dreaded list to be 'ticked off' unless they opt to call it a day and catch the ors off guard. One big question in everyone's mind will be if the good old trio of Indian cricket will be on that flight to Australia shortly.

That will be the day which will decide Indian cricket's future flight path to success or failure ! Whatever happens, Dravid's days of glory will always be cherished by every cricket lover all over the world. Good luck Dravid !

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