Without mentioning any individual names, former India captain and Rajasthan Royals' mentor Rahul Dravid on Thursday came out in full support of the Board of Control for Cricket in India's move to eradicate bowling with illegal actions from the Indian Premier League.
Dravid said this decision of eradicating bowlers with 'dodgy' bowling actions should send a big message to the grassroot level, where the coaches can take corective measures so that the bowler rectifies it at an early phase of his cricketing life.
"I don't want to focus on individuals. But I do support BCCI and ICC (International Cricket Council which has also cracked down on chucking) in eradicating bowlers with dodgy actions," said Dravid.
He was reacting to a question on BCCI's ban on Sunil Narine from bowling off-breaks in matches conducted by it - including IPL in which the West Indian plays for Kolkata Knight Riders.
"I support it for a variety of reasons. People talk about these bowlers getting punished, but what about batsmen who face them and whose careers get ruined? What about other bowlers who have clean action but are sidelined in favour of these bowlers and are then lost to the game," asked Dravid.
Dravid said this issue needs to be addressed seriously at the junior and schools level by the players' coaches.
"We all can see this particular bowler has a different action, a dodgy action. What's to be done about it. You have to correct him at the junior level. The message has to percolate to the grassroots level of the game.
"There was a time in Indian domestic cricket there were so many bowlers with dodgy action. It's good that they have now decided to eradicate it. I welcome it," said Dravid.
Dravid said he cannot comment on news reports linking him to an advisory job with the Indian team as he is yet to hear anything of this nature from the BCCI.
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The BCCI, at its working committee meeting, had authorised President Jagmohan Dalmiya to constitute a cricket advisory committee comprising prominent cricketers who will share their recommendations on the overall conduct and development of the game.
Dravid's name, along with those of his erstwhile India team mates Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, were mentioned in some reports as those who would be inducted into the panel.
Asked about 17-year-old Mumbai-born Sarfaraz Khan's brilliant knock of 45 not out in 21 balls for Royal Challengers Bangalore last night in the rain-ruined IPL game against the Royals in his home city Bengaluru, Dravid said it was prudent to see how this obvious talent blossoms in the future.
"Obviously he's talented and we all knew about him for some time now. There have been quite a few players in the past who had done well in one or two IPLs and faded away. He has to be given the chance to grow at his own pace. Let's see how he performs in Ranji Trophy and other tournaments."
As an example Dravid said that when he saw Virat Kohli, the current RCB captain and Test captain-in-waiting, for the first time he had observed a few chinks in his armour.
"When I saw him the next time he had ironed out the flaws and then when I saw him again some time later he had made further improvement. He was asked some questions in England (in the Test series in which Kohli performed poorly) and six months later (in the Test series in Australia in which Kohli was a stand-out performer) he answered them," remarked Dravid.
He said IPL is a format that gives young players the opportunity to handle pressure situations in front of a big crowd and rub shoulders with the top players in the game, but international cricket is something else.
"IPL is just one form of the game that offers a chance for the youngsters to showcase their talent. But performance in Ranji Trophy etc are very important. You have to keep growing as a player and how you address different challenges is important," was how he put it.
