Rahul Dravid has resigned as the Indian cricket captain. He has communicated to the Indian cricket board that he would like to be relieved, with immediate effect, from his responsibilities as the captain of both the Indian Test and one-day side. If he has cited any reasons for his resignation, neither him nor the cricket board has so far shared that information with the media.
For the past months without a cricket coach, the Indian team is now without a captain too. Thus Indian cricket is a bit, to borrow the recent controversial phrase of Ronen Sen, the Indian ambassador to the United States, like "a headless chicken".
For a man known for his impeccable timing, the timing of Dravid's latest decision has raised more than a few eyebrows. Less than three weeks from now, the world's best cricket team arrives in India for a seven-match one-day tour, which kicks off one of India's busiest cricketing seasons. Over the next few months , India host traditional rivals Pakistan for a Test series and a series of one-day matches, then leave for Australia for a full tour.
There were rumours after the early exit from the World Cup, and after Greg Chappell resigned, that Dravid may quit. But he stuck it out at a time when cricketer-bashing, with active encouragement from a frenzied Indian television media, had turned into a national pastime. He gutsed it out and led India to a rare Test series victory in England.
Dravid is percieved in certain quarters as "too soft". It is percieved that he allowed Greg Chappell to run roughshod over his team members. That he failed to carry the rest of his team with him, or even back them against Chappell. It is a perception that is bound to grow, given his sudden decision to quit.
Mind you though, the man has shown in the past he is unafraid of taking tough decisions. He calmly decided to declare the innings in Pakistan when Sachin Tendulkar was just six short of a memorable double hundred-- not an act you would associate with faint-hearted mortals. Luckily Indians went on to win the match, and not much was heard of the matter.
He also stuck by the beleagured Virender Sehwag through a troubled tour of South Africa. A lot of ex-players, a few selectors and even the chairman of the Indian selection committee Dilip Vengsarkar openly favoured Sehwag should be dropped from the Indian side. Dravid insisted oherwise, and persisted with the out-of-form Sehwag in all the matches.
Those who know Dravid say he is no softie. You don't get a nickname like "The Wall" by being soft, either as player or as a man.
But now The Wall says he has had enough and wants to concentrate on what he does best -- his batting. By his own lofty standards he has had two poor Test series, first against South Africa and now against England. Many say after three eminently successful seasons, this lean trot is how the law of averages catches up with you. Others insist, Dravid's captaincy worries are taking a toll on his batting.
As Dravid remains quiet about his reasons for quitting, speculation is rife. Those in the know of things claim that the methodical Dravid has been disillusioned by the lack of method in India cricket. In coach Greg Chappell, a man who believed as much in putting processes in place as Dravid, the latter had found an ally who shared his vision. But by the time India made an early exit from the World Cup and that much talked about vision for the future of Indian cricket lay in tatters, amidst allegations and counter- allegations between coach Chappell and a section of the Indian cricket team, Dravid is understood to have confided in the BCCI president Sharad Pawar that he wanted to quit.
He was persuaded otherwise by a very public endorsement of his captaincy. Clearly not for long, as his latest decision indicates.
More than the busy season ahead, what would worry the Indian cricket establishment is that there is no apparent sucessor to Dravid. No one you can immediately think of who can take up the high pressure job. For that reason alone, Sanjay Manjrekar, former Indian cricketer and now a commentator, has urged the chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar to have a word with Dravid and ask him to reconsider his decision.
Though Dravid's letter hasn't yet been officially accepted by the Board, sources in the Indian cricket establishment indicated that Dravid is unlikely to change his mind. And the best option lay in looking for a new person or persons (in case of a split captaincy for Test and one-dayers) for the job.
There are the usual suspects, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.
Elevated to vice-captaincy before the World Cup amidst speculations that he was once again eyeing the top job in Indian cricket, Tendulkar might be the person the Indian cricket board turns to, to at least lead the Indian Test side. Tendulkar has been captain twice before, but neither times he appeared entirely comfortable in his role as skipper. Who knows, a more mature Tendulkar, in the autumn of his career, might surprise us pleasantly if given a chance.
One doubts though if he would be interested in captaining the one-day side. In an intervew to The Times, London, Tendulkar recently said that one-dayers were taking a toll on his body. An interview that quickly sparked off rumours that the great man might be contemplating retuirement from one-day cricket to prolong his Test career. Though in close to his best form in the one-day series against England, Tendulkar, now 34, appears unlikely to be around when the next World Cup takes place in 2011.
Ditto for his long time one-day opening partner Sourav Ganguly. Though in fine form in Tests as well as one-dayers, Ganguly, also 34, appears unlikely to be around when India play the next World Cup. Having said that, few would argue his credentials as captain. He is after all India's most successful Test captain ever. recent poll by a leading Indian television channel found 57 percent of the respondents voting for Ganguly as the next Indian skipper.
Despite a rather controversial end to his tenure as skipper, Ganguly in his early days showed both flair and spirit to extricate Indian cricket out of the matchfixing quagmire it had found itself in. He beat Australia at home in 2001 in one of the most memorable Test series in modern times, then for the first time led India to victory against Pakistan in Pakistan. He backed a bunch of young players, like Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh and turned them into match-winners. His bold gambits paid off as he turned Sehwag, until then a middle order batsman, into one of the most destructive opening batsmen in international cricket. Persuading Dravid to don the wicket keeping gloves in one dayers was another inspirational move. Suddenly India had a world class batsman at the crucial number seven slot.
But as his own batting form dipped, Ganguly struggled with his captaincy too. An ugly, very public spat with coach Greg Chappell led to his ouster from the side.
Since he fashioned a most memorable comeback last year against South Africa, he has been in fine form in both Tests as well as one-dayers. Now that Indian cricket again finds itself at crossroads, the Indian cricket board might turn to its most successful captain. But at 34, like Tendulkar, his best cricketing days are behind Ganguly.Many feel it will be a retrograde step to turn back to him for captaincy.
Two other players, touted as potential skippers in recent times, find themselves currently out of favour. Yuvraj Singh has found it difficult to command a place in the Indian middle order in Tests. And Virender Sehwag, on a comeback trail in the ongoing Twenty20 World Cup, is presently out of both the Indian Test and one-day sides.
Which leaves -- or, should we say, leads us to -- Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He has already been trusted with the captaincy of the Indian Twenty20 side. And could very well be the selectors' choice as the new captain for the Indian one-day squad. A dashing batsman, and one of the hardest hitters of the cricket ball, the wicket keeper from Jharkhand is known to have a mature head on his young shoulders. He can, and has tempered his explosive batting skills as per the demands of the situation.
Dhoni's selection as skipper of the Indian one-day side in the home series against Australia allows the selectors a breather before they have to decide on the Indian Test captain.
If Dhoni does well against the Australians, the selectors might hand him over the Test captaincy too. In case he doesn't, they would then have the option of choosing either Tendulkar or Ganguly. Or they might dip into their selectors' hat and come up with an entirely new name.
Which would be completely par for course, given the goings-on in Indian cricket.
For the past months without a cricket coach, the Indian team is now without a captain too. Thus Indian cricket is a bit, to borrow the recent controversial phrase of Ronen Sen, the Indian ambassador to the United States, like "a headless chicken".
For a man known for his impeccable timing, the timing of Dravid's latest decision has raised more than a few eyebrows. Less than three weeks from now, the world's best cricket team arrives in India for a seven-match one-day tour, which kicks off one of India's busiest cricketing seasons. Over the next few months , India host traditional rivals Pakistan for a Test series and a series of one-day matches, then leave for Australia for a full tour.
There were rumours after the early exit from the World Cup, and after Greg Chappell resigned, that Dravid may quit. But he stuck it out at a time when cricketer-bashing, with active encouragement from a frenzied Indian television media, had turned into a national pastime. He gutsed it out and led India to a rare Test series victory in England.
Dravid is percieved in certain quarters as "too soft". It is percieved that he allowed Greg Chappell to run roughshod over his team members. That he failed to carry the rest of his team with him, or even back them against Chappell. It is a perception that is bound to grow, given his sudden decision to quit.
Mind you though, the man has shown in the past he is unafraid of taking tough decisions. He calmly decided to declare the innings in Pakistan when Sachin Tendulkar was just six short of a memorable double hundred-- not an act you would associate with faint-hearted mortals. Luckily Indians went on to win the match, and not much was heard of the matter.
He also stuck by the beleagured Virender Sehwag through a troubled tour of South Africa. A lot of ex-players, a few selectors and even the chairman of the Indian selection committee Dilip Vengsarkar openly favoured Sehwag should be dropped from the Indian side. Dravid insisted oherwise, and persisted with the out-of-form Sehwag in all the matches.
Those who know Dravid say he is no softie. You don't get a nickname like "The Wall" by being soft, either as player or as a man.
But now The Wall says he has had enough and wants to concentrate on what he does best -- his batting. By his own lofty standards he has had two poor Test series, first against South Africa and now against England. Many say after three eminently successful seasons, this lean trot is how the law of averages catches up with you. Others insist, Dravid's captaincy worries are taking a toll on his batting.
As Dravid remains quiet about his reasons for quitting, speculation is rife. Those in the know of things claim that the methodical Dravid has been disillusioned by the lack of method in India cricket. In coach Greg Chappell, a man who believed as much in putting processes in place as Dravid, the latter had found an ally who shared his vision. But by the time India made an early exit from the World Cup and that much talked about vision for the future of Indian cricket lay in tatters, amidst allegations and counter- allegations between coach Chappell and a section of the Indian cricket team, Dravid is understood to have confided in the BCCI president Sharad Pawar that he wanted to quit.
He was persuaded otherwise by a very public endorsement of his captaincy. Clearly not for long, as his latest decision indicates.
More than the busy season ahead, what would worry the Indian cricket establishment is that there is no apparent sucessor to Dravid. No one you can immediately think of who can take up the high pressure job. For that reason alone, Sanjay Manjrekar, former Indian cricketer and now a commentator, has urged the chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar to have a word with Dravid and ask him to reconsider his decision.
Though Dravid's letter hasn't yet been officially accepted by the Board, sources in the Indian cricket establishment indicated that Dravid is unlikely to change his mind. And the best option lay in looking for a new person or persons (in case of a split captaincy for Test and one-dayers) for the job.
There are the usual suspects, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.
Elevated to vice-captaincy before the World Cup amidst speculations that he was once again eyeing the top job in Indian cricket, Tendulkar might be the person the Indian cricket board turns to, to at least lead the Indian Test side. Tendulkar has been captain twice before, but neither times he appeared entirely comfortable in his role as skipper. Who knows, a more mature Tendulkar, in the autumn of his career, might surprise us pleasantly if given a chance.
One doubts though if he would be interested in captaining the one-day side. In an intervew to The Times, London, Tendulkar recently said that one-dayers were taking a toll on his body. An interview that quickly sparked off rumours that the great man might be contemplating retuirement from one-day cricket to prolong his Test career. Though in close to his best form in the one-day series against England, Tendulkar, now 34, appears unlikely to be around when the next World Cup takes place in 2011.
Ditto for his long time one-day opening partner Sourav Ganguly. Though in fine form in Tests as well as one-dayers, Ganguly, also 34, appears unlikely to be around when India play the next World Cup. Having said that, few would argue his credentials as captain. He is after all India's most successful Test captain ever. recent poll by a leading Indian television channel found 57 percent of the respondents voting for Ganguly as the next Indian skipper.
Despite a rather controversial end to his tenure as skipper, Ganguly in his early days showed both flair and spirit to extricate Indian cricket out of the matchfixing quagmire it had found itself in. He beat Australia at home in 2001 in one of the most memorable Test series in modern times, then for the first time led India to victory against Pakistan in Pakistan. He backed a bunch of young players, like Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh and turned them into match-winners. His bold gambits paid off as he turned Sehwag, until then a middle order batsman, into one of the most destructive opening batsmen in international cricket. Persuading Dravid to don the wicket keeping gloves in one dayers was another inspirational move. Suddenly India had a world class batsman at the crucial number seven slot.
But as his own batting form dipped, Ganguly struggled with his captaincy too. An ugly, very public spat with coach Greg Chappell led to his ouster from the side.
Since he fashioned a most memorable comeback last year against South Africa, he has been in fine form in both Tests as well as one-dayers. Now that Indian cricket again finds itself at crossroads, the Indian cricket board might turn to its most successful captain. But at 34, like Tendulkar, his best cricketing days are behind Ganguly.Many feel it will be a retrograde step to turn back to him for captaincy.
Two other players, touted as potential skippers in recent times, find themselves currently out of favour. Yuvraj Singh has found it difficult to command a place in the Indian middle order in Tests. And Virender Sehwag, on a comeback trail in the ongoing Twenty20 World Cup, is presently out of both the Indian Test and one-day sides.
Which leaves -- or, should we say, leads us to -- Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He has already been trusted with the captaincy of the Indian Twenty20 side. And could very well be the selectors' choice as the new captain for the Indian one-day squad. A dashing batsman, and one of the hardest hitters of the cricket ball, the wicket keeper from Jharkhand is known to have a mature head on his young shoulders. He can, and has tempered his explosive batting skills as per the demands of the situation.
Dhoni's selection as skipper of the Indian one-day side in the home series against Australia allows the selectors a breather before they have to decide on the Indian Test captain.
If Dhoni does well against the Australians, the selectors might hand him over the Test captaincy too. In case he doesn't, they would then have the option of choosing either Tendulkar or Ganguly. Or they might dip into their selectors' hat and come up with an entirely new name.
Which would be completely par for course, given the goings-on in Indian cricket.
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Keep up the good work.
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