Are India jeopardising their World Cup dream?

Such has been the progress of Sourav Ganguly's side in the past few months that Indian supporters are now dreaming of victory at next year's World Cup.

Vice-captain Dravid has been behind the stumps in 24 of his 182 one-day appearances, but endured a nightmare during the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka.

Catches were dropped, byes conceded and most embarrassingly of all, he missed the stumps as he tried to run out Russel Arnold in the replayed final in Colombo.

Should India perservere with Dravid? Or is it too big a risk?

This debate is now closed

Dravid should definitely be retained as keeper. Any decent keeper in India isn't good enough with the bat and therefore would be useless in the one-day game. India need seven batsmen in South Africa and having Dravid as keeper/batsmen allows them to do this perfectly.
Jiten Rana, England

Unless a batsman is incompetent as a wicket-keeper, he will off many more options to a team. Stewart improves the balance of the England side no end, Dravid could do the same for India. Dasgupta is poor with the gloves but an excellent batsman and I feel he has been scapegoated far too much. Give Dravid a go, it is not like India have a huge amount to lose in making any gamble.
Alex, UK

He should stay as keeper in the one-dayers. Our specialist wicketkeepers can't bat and it would waste a position in the line-up.
Mitesh, UK

It is absolute nonsense to have a talk about this issue. There is no doubt that Dravid is the only consistent batsman in the Indian team and it is a fact beyond any questions that he is the backbone of the Indian batting line-up. Please don't try to destroy his morale by these types of stupid comments.
Jossi, UAE

Adam Gilchrist opens the batting as well as keeping the wickets for Australia!
Adinarayana, India

Absolutely not! As a keeper, Dravid makes at least one mistake every game, and one of these days it is going to cost India big time. What are India scared of that they needs seven specialist batsmen? It is a negative tactic. I would do away with Mongia or Laxman's slot and bring in a specialist young wicket keeper - someone like Patel, who has age on his side.

I would not touch the batting order. Tendulkar should go at number three and everyone through Kaif goes after him. I also think that four specialist bowlers will not cut it on South African fast pitches. But since the dearth of quality specialist bowlers is obvious, India may stick with the present game plan until a few more bowlers like Zaheer Khan are found.
Teymoor Rashid, USA

It is excessive cricket syndrome that caught up with Dravid rather than anything else. If it is a technical aspect, then Dravid should work on it and get it sorted out, since having him as a wicket-keeper is really helping the balance of the team, as you can see from the results so far.
Rao Vadlamani, USA

Dravid is not a good wicketkeeper! This is an undeniable fact, but it helps us pack in an extra batsman. During this trial, Dinesh Mongia and VVS Laxman have not made any contribution of note, so there is some deadwood in the line-up. We could put Agarkar up there and still have Kaif at number seven.

Or why don't we get a good batsman like VST Naidu of Karntka? I saw him bat last year and he really larrups the bowling. Try him out...he'll be a revelation!
Mark Alphonso, GOA, INDIA

Rahul Dravid should continue as a wicket-keeper/batsman because India don't have any other wicket-keepers who can bat as well as him. Even though Dravid isn't perfect at wicket keeping, he can be just as good as any wicket-keeper with a little practice. By the World Cup I'm sure he is going to be the most reliable and valuable player in the Indian team.
Ranvir, USA

At this point it is probably too late to groom the youngsters (Parthiv Patel or Ajay Ratra) for the World Cup. India must best utilize the resources that they have at hand. They must provide additional training to Dravid to improve his basics of wicket-keeping before the World Cup. But Dravid should only be a short term solution.
Shah, USA

Even, if India add a specialized wicket-keeper at the expense of a batsman, there's no guarantee he's going to be flawless. Instead, it's better to take a chance with Dravid, who is getting better every day.
Manick, India

I believe Dravid is doing a great job behind the wickets. Except for the Champions Trophy he did well in earlier matches, and all that is required right now is a bit of specialist coaching for him in wicket keeping. We can't afford to lose a great batsman like Dravid in any form of cricket.
Vinod, USA

Dravid being there not only brings solidity to the middle order, but also gives more license to the top order batsman to go after the bowling. Dravid has not replaced someone like Kirmani, Mongia and Kiran More. He has replaced the likes of Ratra and Patel, who were equally bad on some occasions in the Test matches. So what is the big deal?
Uthams, USA

Considering the fact that it's working well I don't see a reason as to why India need a change here. When there is no credible replacement available it's a good idea to continue his dual role until the World Cup. All India need now is an all rounder who can bat and bowl. Kaif can come one down and the rest of the order remains the same.
Mahesh, USA

Imagine if it were the run out chance of Gilchrist or Gibbs. Imagine if it were the seventh over of the match and not the 49th. Wicket keeping is not something that a part timer can or should do. India would be served better if they were to drop Agarkar or Kumble and play Sanjay Bangar instead.

Bangar impressed not just with his batting but also with his swing bowling in England. With an extra batsman India can then play a regular wicket keeper instead of Mongia/Laxman.
Sameer, USA

There is little doubt that Dravid is, on a good day, an average 'keeper. However, it is important to look at the move in its totality rather than just Dravid's 'keeping. I think that what Dravid brings as a plus by his batting is far greater than his minuses as a 'keeper.

He is the Rock of Gibraltar in India's middle order and lends it a solidity that allows stroke-makers like Sehwag, Ganguly, Tendulkar, Yuvraj, Kaif and Laxman to play their natural attacking game that makes India's batting line-up the most envied in the world today.
Nakul Raheja, India

India's best bet for the World Cup is Dravid behind the stumps. He may make a few mistakes here and there, but he can only get better from here.
Sandeep Dave, USA

Dravid may not be the best wicket-keeper, but his job is enabling India to play seven batsmen and Kaif. India do not have an all-rounder - that's the reality. Dravid's role is to help India come to terms with reality. Since Dravid has taken over as wicket-keeper, India have lost only two run-curtailed games over the last 15 matches. That's what India are counting on.

As John Wright said, the pros of Dravid's keeping far outweigh the cons. This topic should be dead and buried until the World Cup. No matter what people say Ganguly wants this, and it is going to happen.
Atul, USA

We all know about Dravid's batting prowess but his keeping leaves a lot to be desired. If Dravid works on his keeping in the coming months India will have a very solid team all-round. I don't think it is a good idea to introduce another wicket-keeper as losing his batting would be a minus for India.
Daleep, UK

Wicket-keeping is a specialist role, and every team should have a dedicated player for the job. Dravid is a class batsman who would earn his place in any Test side on batting alone. But he is not the right wicket-keeper for India, and wicket-keeping will affect his batting form.

It's backbreaking work to crouch and dive for up to eight sessions in a row of a Test match. India should not jeopardise Dravid's batting because their domestic cricket has not yielded a top notch wicketkeeper. Witness what happened to Alec Stewart's batting when he was keeping wicket and opening in the same match.

Plus, batting alone cannot win matches. Taking wickets wins matches, and the wicket-keeper is vital as a catcher and as a means of minimising runs scored by the opposition.
Mehboob, England