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Dravid will continue to keep wickets: Ganguly
 New Delhi, Aug 6: Rahul Dravid may be a reluctant wicketkeeper but there seems to be no respite for him, at least in the near future, with skipper Sourav Ganguly today asserting that he would continue to keep wickets in one-day cricket despite the selection of a specialist in Dinesh Kaarthik. Rookie Tamil Nadu keeper-batsman Kaarthik was yesterday named in the Indian squad for upcoming one-day tournaments including the all-important Champions Trophy in England, fuelling speculation that he might relieve Dravid of his dual role.
But Ganguly, here for a promotional event for LG, one of the official sponsors of ICC Champions Trophy, made it amply clear that Dravid would have to continue in his present role and Kaarthik was just picked as a back-up. Asked whether the team management was looking to have a specialist keeper in one-dayers, the Indian captain said, "No, we are not. This (selection of Kaarthik) is only in case Rahul Dravid gets injured."
"Dravid will keep in one-day internationals. If anything, we are looking for a wicketkeeper who can bat at number seven. Now that Agarkar is back and with Irfan we have some players lower down the order who can bat in pressure situations. One-day cricket is all about scoring runs." The Indian captain also justified the inclusion of Bengal batsman Rohan Gavaskar in the squad of 15 for the Holland tri-series and NatWest Challenge against England.
"To be fair to Rohan, he did well in Australia in whatever limited chances he got." Former Indian skipper Kris Srikkanth, who was also present for the unveiling of the Champions Trophy, said the squad picked yesterday was "well-balanced". "Looking at the conditions in England, it is an ideal squad. I don't think why we shouldn't win the Champions Trophy with this team," he said. (Agencies)
Published: Friday, August 06, 2004
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