While his teammates attempt to score Brownie points at the Challenger one-day tournament (featuring India, India A and India B) and then knuckle down to the serious task of a six-match limited-overs series against a resurgent England, Rahul Dravid – injured shoulder and all - is contemplating the less arduous prospect of R & R in South Africa. He wings his way to the Cape on January 7 and won't return for a month.

Much has been made of Dravid's injury but he insists that there is no problem. "The shoulder hasn't bothered me at all while playing cricket. Frankly, it doesn't bother me while batting, or while throwing. The month I'm taking off is a preventive measure. It's a stitch-in-time-saves-nine situation. I don't want to reach a stage where I need surgery."

The travails of his colleagues and good friends, Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath, are clearly on his mind. "I don't want to get to a point where, like Anil or Srinath, I need surgery and miss six to eight months from the game."

"When it comes to this, I have to go by the judgment of the surgeons and the physios. They're the specialists whereas I know very little about it. All of them feel that it would be good for me to take four weeks off and do some rehabilitation and strengthening because the shoulder has become a little weak. If I do that now, it will hopefully prevent any further problems. It's just a question of adopting a conservative approach."

Indian cricket's Mr. Dependable will doubtless be keeping a close eye on happenings at home as the Indian team - damned with faint praise after a fortuitous Test-series victory – strive to redeem their honour. They'll have to do that without Dravid around to shoulder a large part of the batting burden.

Dileep Premachandran is assistant editor, Wisden.com India.

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