It might be ‘just’ a Ranji Trophy tie, but Rahul Dravid’s preparations were no different from the way he approaches an international fixture. One of the contributory factors to the 34-year-old’s extraordinary success at the highest level has been the meticulous attention to detail and his preparedness for any eventuality. At the Wankhede stadium on Friday, the former Indian captain went through the same drills that have accompanied his match-eve routine at the international level.

To start with, Dravid steadfastly refused eye contact with anyone not associated with cricketing matters! Then, after a hit at the pacers’ nets and an equally fruitful stint at the adjacent spinners’ nets where he was engaged in a fascinating duel with Anil Kumble, Dravid shed his pads, picked up his bat and strode to the reddish-looking pitch.

For the next 25 minutes or so, Dravid practised his favourite visualisation technique, seeking to get a feel of the ground as he settled into his batting stance in front of where the stumps will be placed, first on the side farther from the pavilion, then on the side closer to it. It’s a method that has helped him in the past, though to attribute his batting success to mere preparation will be doing gross injustice to his skills as a batsman.

Gross injustice is the general perception as regards the treatment meted out to the former skipper by the current selection panel. Dravid himself has taken his omission from the Indian side for the first two one-dayers against Pakistan with characteristic grace, a commodity conspicuous by its absence in the manner in which Dilip Vengsarkar’s panel has summarily jettisoned the Bangalorean.

If Dravid’s temporary absence from the Indian squad is in continuance of the selection panel's policy of rotation to keep players fresh and to gradually break in the youngsters, then that’s fine. But the least Vengsarkar owed Dravid for his contributions to Indian cricket was a phone call explaining the wisdom behind that move. Were Vengsarkar to sit on ego — as is the grapevine — and choose not to call Dravid simply because the latter did not inform him of his decision to quit the captaincy in mid-September, it reflects poorly on the man they call the 'Colonel.'

Vengsarkar’s reference to 'form and fitness' in the same breath as Dravid’s absence was also in pretty poor taste. Dravid doesn't need to score in domestic cricket to prove his undoubted class. Indeed, where else would you place a batsman of his calibre on trial? And if form was the criterion, then why did Vengsarkar’s panel not ask Dravid to play the Challenger Series in Ahmedabad last week? After all, isn’t it the one-day series first against Pakistan?!

Dravid’s studied silence has ensured that while the speculation game continues, there is no unsavoury mud-slinging. The man that has always spoken with his bat will be primed to play true to form over the next four days. In Vengsarkar’s backyard, no less!