Harish Kotian in Mumbai/Rediff 
 
Mumbai, Oct 17: Former India players expressed disappointment at the axing of Rahul Dravid for the seventh One-Day International against Australia, saying it was "shocking".

"It was a shocking decision to drop Dravid from this match. He has been such a great player for India over the years," Vinod Kambli said in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Former captain Dravid was dropped from the Indian team after a run of poor scores in the ongoing one-day series and replaced by Dinesh Karthik for the final match of the series at the Wankhede stadium.

"However, I would advise Dravid not to get disheartened. Every cricketer goes through such a phase in his career. I am sure he will come out strong," Kambli added.

Kambli also relived memories of the 1987 World Cup semi-final match between India and England , when he and Tendulkar both did ball boy duties.

"We always wanted to see players like Sunil Gavaskar, so we thought we could do the ball boy job and watch them play. It was like a dream come true for us watching them in action.

"And today also, after 20 years, we are at this ground, but he is playing and I am watching him play. How I wish I could also be out there in the middle batting with him," Kambli said.

Former India pacer Abey Kuruvilla also seemed stunned by the decision to drop Dravid.

"It was sad to see Dravid not being included. It is not the way to treat such a great player like him, who has also been our ex-captain," Kuruvilla said.

Kuruvilla, who was S Sreesanth's mentor as Kerala's Ranji Trophy team coach, backed his prodigy to the hilt saying "Sreesanth's on-field aggression is acceptable".

"I don't think there is anything wrong with Sreesanth. He has been aggressive all through and I don't see any reason why he should change.

"I think the aggression part has been hyped too much in this series. I think it's better if we concentrate on the cricket," Kuruvilla added.