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India has yet again lost the first Test of an away series. It comes as no surprise then to see Sourav Ganguly and his men being roasted by all and sundry. Rahul Dravid opening the Indian innings, meanwhile, has also figured prominently in many dinner-table discussions across the country.

According to present indications, Dravid might continue at the top of the order in the second Test too, despite his failures at Bloemfontein. Ganguly said in the post-Test conference that it was Dravid who volunteered to take up the job. If that indeed was the case, there was very good logic behind having him, and not the untried Connor Williams, do the job. As for those saying that Dravid was being treated as a sacrificial goat and that we would have been better off making an offering of a lesser player, say Deep Dasgupta, is that not taking a tinted and very negative view of the whole affair?

A lack of a stable opening pair has been the bane of Indian cricket for a long time. In fact, since Sunil Gavaskar's glorious leave-taking at Bangalore, which saw him break up with long-time partner Krishnamachari Srikkanth, there has been no pair that has offered either stability or hope. Shiv Sunder Das' arrival on the international scene last year has meant that we now have at least one opener of potential. But the problem of a proper opening partner for Das has persisted.

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Sadagoppan Ramesh, his partner during the Sri Lankan tour, for instance, has so many technical flaws that, based on them, you can probably write a best-seller, photos and all, on how not to open a Test. Connor Williams, the latest in the list, is another opener whose technique has not yet been fully tested at the highest level.

So, considering all this, Dravid being promoted to opener can only be seen as a good move with the future in mind. The 28-year-old has an excellent defensive technique and has scored tons of runs against the new ball. In fact, as a No. 3 batsman, home and away, he has scored 2,931 runs with seven hundreds and 15 fifties at an average of 56.36. If we narrow our search down to his innings as a one-down batsman on foreign soil, his record is all the more impressive - 1,405 runs, including four hundreds, at an average of 58.54. No Indian batsman across the eras has done better. Sachin Tendulkar, one of the few other Indian batsmen to do well abroad, for instance, has an average of 54.52 in comparison.

On most of the above-mentioned occasions, Dravid would have, considering our opening stands in recent times, walked in during the first 10 overs of the innings. That he has scored so many runs at such an excellent average indubitably proves that he has the technique to open the innings. Moving to his perceived lack of comfort in the opener's slot, that is an argument best stowed away if Ganguly used volunteered in the sense that all dictionaries use it. And knowing Ganguly and his straight-talking ways, it could not have been otherwise.

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Let me then end by saying that we would do well if we avoid reading too much into Dravid's first two dismissals. The Indian vice-captain has in the past bounced back spectacularly after failures in the first Test of a series; the previous South African tour, the 1998-99 New Zealand tour, and the recent series against Australia at home are all noteworthy instances. For all we know, if Dravid is left at peace to prove himself, he might well do that against what is the weakest South African attack in years. And Dravid's success could consequently make a world of difference to the Indian team in the coming years.

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