Nobody can replace Dravid: Sachin

NEW DELHI: Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar feels the retirement of his long-time teammate Rahul Dravid has created an irreplaceable void at number three position in the Indian Test team.

Sachin says Dravid will be sorely missed in the dressing room.

"Rahul has been an incredible player for India and for world cricket. Nobody is going to be able to replace Rahul in that position," said Sachin.

"You need someone to be dedicated, be committed and disciplined. The entire country will miss him because we were all used to Rahul padding up batting at number 3. However, these things will continue to happen because that`s how the game goes around for years. All great players retire one day."

Dravid retired from all forms of the game in March, ending a glorious 16-year-old career. His decision followed the team`s disastrous show in England and Australia where it lost eight Test matches in a row.

Sachin was part of the two tours and he says it would be incorrect to blame India`s domestic structure for the team`s poor show.

"I don`t think we can point our fingers at our structure because with that same structure we hit the number one spot. So if there was something wrong with the structure, we would have never reached that spot."

BDST: 1335 HRS, July 14, 2012
Edited by
Chanchal Ghosh, Newsroom Editor