Veteran Indian batsman Rahul Dravid, who provided inspirational leadership to the beleaguered Rajasthan Royals this season, has decided to call it quits from the IPl with the upcoming Champions league Twenty20 being his last assignment for the franchise.
"At 41, 12 months is a long way away. luckily we have qualified for the Champions league (in October) which is a few months away. You know, I think that would be it," the 40-year-old said after RR went out of the IPl following a four-wicket loss to the Mumbai Indians in the second Qualifier on Friday.
After the loss, Dravid termed on his squad which has "probably given more than they had been asked to".
"Just take our team spirit, our energy... the fight we had as a group. We faced a lot of adversity both on and off the field but I think the way the guys responded to the challenges both on and off the field has been excellent."
"It's been a pleasure to lead this team. It's been a pleasure to work with the support staff I have had. I like to thank all my boys, all the support staff for the help they have given me," Dravid said at the presentation ceremony.
Dravid said it was a great feeling to hone the skills of youngsters and help them develop.
"It's great for me to see youngsters come in, that's our USP and part of what we do in the Royals... we are forced to some ways to try and bring good players on and see how they develop," he said.
Dubbed as 'The Wall', Dravid noted that the team had put in a lot of hard work to increase its potential.
"It's a great effort... everybody has given so much to it. I think everybody in the team can be proud of our effort. We have maximised our potential. Everyone has probably given more then they been asked to," he added.
Betting not sole problem
The spot-fixing scandal might have left the IPl's reputation in shreds and severely dented his own team's image but Dravid said no good can come out of banning the Twenty20 league altogether as there are a "lot of positives about it".
"You've to deal with the challenges. If you completely throw away the tournament, it's like throwing away the baby with the bath water," Dravid said on Friday night.
"We need to sort the issue out rather than make big statements like cancel the IPl. Because there're some real good positives that have come out of it."
Dravid further said the menace of fixing has been there in the past as well.
"We don't stop International cricket because of that. If that yardstick was used, we should stop all cricket. It's a question of correcting some of the challenges. An issue of betting is not only about the IPl. We have seen in the past that the issue has been there in International cricket," Dravid said.
"The cricket is great. There is no doubt about it. I've always said the IPl is a fantastic tournament. There are a lot of positives about it. But there are challenges in the IPl as well as we've seen in the last week or 10 days. Not only this, there are other challenges that come up from time to time and that need to be dealt with.
"Truth always sets you free. I really hope that in anything you just get to the truth and get to the bottom of it. Whatever and however painful maybe."
The spot-fixing scam came to surface after the arrest of Royals trio of S Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila and it opened a can of worms.
Dravid said IPl was a "unique" experience for him but he hoped cricket will come out winners tomorrow.
"This tournament needs a great final. We had a great game today and it went down to the wire. After all that has happened, as long as we get a great game of cricket irrespective of whoever wins, hopefully cricket will come out winning," Dravid said.
Dravid said it was a difficult phase for his team, something which it had not experienced before. "It was unique in that sense. You plan for a lot of things... You plan for failing, you know how to deal with that. But when stuff like this comes up you don't know...," he said.