Tendulkar and Ganguly hail Rahul Dravid

Tendulkar called Dravid the "unsung hero of the Indian team" and said his value was reflected by the sheer amount of runs he has scored.

The 38-year-old Dravid, who has amassed 10,820 runs in 343 one-dayers, will play his last game on Friday in Cardiff against England. He announced his retirement before the start of the series after having been overlooked for limited-overs games for most of the past two years.

Former captains Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble also praised Dravid's contribution in one-dayers.

"He has had a fabulous career as a one-day player and has contributed so much to Indian cricket," Tendulkar said in an interview published in an Indian daily. "I have no doubt that he is and will continue to be a role model for all of us."

Tendulkar said Dravid's natural game was not suited for the quick scoring of one-dayers, but had worked hard to improve and excelled in his "finishing role."

"He may not give you a quick start, but he will surely make his innings count in terms of time spent at the crease. You need such players in the team, and he was the best man for the job," he added.

Tendulkar also praised Dravid for adjusting according to the team's needs and helping the team gain depth in batting by agreeing to keep wickets.

"He is the perfect team man; when he was asked to keep wickets we all knew that he will do well because he was initially a wicketkeeper. It later helped him, and came as a big help to all of us in the Indian team during the 2003 World Cup."

Ganguly said Indian cricket should be "thankful to Rahul" for being flexible.

"Rahul has a had a checkered one-day career and it took a new turn once he decided to keep wickets in 2002," Ganguly wrote in his column in an Indian daily. "His decision was absolutely for the team as it helped reorganize the middle-order and add more depth to it."

Kumble, who was Dravid's senior while playing for Karnataka in domestic cricket, called him an "exceptional team player" who was unfazed by criticism.

"I consider it a privilege to have played alongside him through most of my career," he said. "His contribution as a team player and mentor can't be quantified, and that will certainly be missed going forward."

Dravid, who played his solitary Twenty20 international during the ongoing tour of England, will continue to play in Test cricket.

He has scored 12,775 runs in Tests, which is the second highest aggregate in history behind Tendulkar (14,965). He has slammed 35 centuries and is fourth on the list of century-makers behind Tendulkar (51), South African allrounder Jacques Kallis (40) and former Australia captain Ricky Ponting (39).

@Times of India

England can't guarantee place for anyone: Cook

England one-day captain Alastair Cook has warned that no player is guaranteed a place in his side after Kevin Pietersen was rested for the forthcoming series against India.

Cook will be without flamboyant batsman Pietersen when he leads England into battle in a five-match limited overs series against India, which starts in Durham on Saturday.


Pietersen played a full part in England's 4-0 rout of India in the recent Test series and also featured in the Twenty20 victory over the tourists earlier this week.

But he has been left out of the India one-day matches and reports on Friday suggested he could also be excluded for the one-day tour to Asia, which would raise serious questions about his place in England's 50-over plans as they build towards the 2015 World Cup.

Cook insisted Pietersen, who has scored just two one-day half-centuries in the past two years, had only been left out due to England's rotation policy, but he did warn that no-one was safe as the selectors look to find a winning formula.

"KP is a world-class player. We said with the management of players he has been rested for this series," Cook said on Friday.

"He's part of the programme to rest players who are involved in all three formats of the game.

"There is no guarantee for anything, because we haven't had that selection meeting for India."

Asked if he would prefer someone like Pietersen in his team, Cook repeated: "There's no guarantee for anything."

In Pietersen's absence, 20-year-old Ben Stokes has been called into the squad to help fill the hard-hitting role.

The Durham all-rounder has proven a match-winner at county level and Cook admitted England would look to rest their regulars to allow them to have a look at the likes of Stokes as they begin their World Cup planning.

"It's a great chance as a side to do that," Cook said. "We've got four years until the World Cup. You want to win every game that you play.

"There is always an eye on when we do arrive in four years' time that we have a settled and experienced squad that can cope with those conditions.

" Meanwhile, England could be without spinner Graeme Swann for Saturday's game as he struggles with a stomach bug.

Swann took his career-best one-day figures of five for 28 at Durham two years ago against Australia, and Cook said a decision on his fitness would be made early on Saturday.

Kohli backs world champs India to silence Hussain

India batsman Virat Kohli insists the world champions will prove Nasser Hussain wrong after the former England captain labelled some of the tourists as "donkeys".

Hussain made the controversial remark about India's fielding while commentating during Wednesday's one-off Twenty20 international, which England won by six wickets.

The comment has prompted criticism in India with the Board of Control for Cricket vice president Rajiv Shukla describing it as "totally uncalled for".


India have endured a miserable tour to England, losing their position as the number one Test team after being drubbed 4-0 by Andrew Strauss's team, but Kohli believes Hussian's criticism was wide of the mark.

He points to India's successful World Cup campaign earlier this year as proof that the tourists have nothing to be embarrassed about when it comes to fielding in hectic one-day games.

"Everyone has their opinion. We don't have to get angry about it and try really desperately to change it," said Kohli ahead of Saturday's opening one-day clash against England in Durham.

"I don't really pay attention to all of this. We just have to do what we have been doing for a while. We haven't become world champions just like that.

"If we fielded like the remarks that have been said then we wouldn't have been world champions.

"I don't think these remarks should be making a difference to us. It's up to us to perform at our level best - like we have been for a while in the limited-overs format.

"We are the ones playing in the field and we have to know that we've given 100 percent."

India head into the series without a win over England on tour so far but Kohli is among a number of new faces to join the squad following the Test series, and he believes they can turn around a forgettable trip so far.

"It's all about how you come back and fight," he said. "There is no embarrassment (in the Test series defeat) because that is part of cricket.

"We were beaten fair and square. We have no complaints about that.

"We have some new faces in the team now and they are fresh and up for the challenge.

"We are working hard in practice. We hope to win this series and turn things around."

Many of the changes India have made have been forced upon them by injury, with Ravindra Jadeja due to join the squad after Gautam Gambhir became the latest player to fly home.

Gambhir returned to India this week still suffering the concussion he suffered in the fourth Test to join star names Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Ishant Sharma as early departures.

However, young opener Ajinkya Rahane took his chance with a blazing 61 from 39 balls in the Twenty20 and is set to make his 50-over debut on Saturday.

"Injuries are unfortunate but they present opportunities for the players coming in," Kohli added.

"We saw Ajinkya due extremely well on Wednesday. All those who have been called in are up for the challenge."