Dravid’s too good a player to be left out: Kumble

Dravid was dropped for the first four games of the ODI series against Pak after averaging less than 10 in his last 10 ODI matches.

India’s newly-appointed test captain Anil Kumble backed experienced batsman Rahul Dravid to make a quick return to the one-day side.

Dravid, 34, was dropped for the first four games of the present five-match one-day series against Pakistan after averaging less than 10 in his last 10 one-day matches.

Former captain Dravid, one of seven batsmen in the world to score over 10,000 one-day runs, however, displayed his old touch with a spanking double hundred in a recent domestic game.

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“He’s too good a player to be left out,” Kumble told a TV news channel on Sunday.

“I’m sure it’s only a temporary phase. He is an integral part of the team and he has been (that) for the last 12 years,” Kumble added.

India won the third one-dayer by 46 runs on Sunday to go 2-1 up.

Dravid is, however, expected to be an automatic choice for the three-test series against Pakistan beginning later this month.

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He gave up the captaincy in September after the England tour to focus on his batting but looked out of sorts in the one-day series against Australia, scoring 51 in five completed innings.