With Rahul Dravid having hung up captaincy boots its time now to zero in on the first man of India’s cricket team. India has been witness to cricketing phenomenon of the likes of Sachin, Saurav and Dravid who have all led the team at some point or the other. With each victory of the team is celebrated and players heightened to demi-gods and every failure criticized, the job of the Indian cricket captain involves a lot of pressure, especially where cricket has the stature of the nations’ religion.
The T20 team minus Sachin, Saurav and Dravid is pretty young and inexperienced, with only Shehwag, Yuvraj and Harbhajan as senior players. Dhoni’s ability with the bat makes it fairly acceptable to have him as captain in T20 matches, where hitting the ball is the ‘mantra’. But when it comes to leading team India in One day and Test matches, the boys would want to look up to someone who has put a lot of years in the middle. Cricket is a game of nerves/ team coordination and I believe Dhoni is too young and inexperienced for the job as captain. Making Dhoni the captain for the 50 over matches is a gamble which BCCI is playing with the stakes really high.
Would Sachin captain the test team? Sachin, beyond doubt, is one of the best players of the game, time-tested and unanimously accepted. But Sachin as the captain of India has not had a good record - not only had the team suffered defeats but also his individual performance went for a toss. More importantly lasting three more seasons, building up a winning team and commanding respect from the younger members with his waning performance - is it not a tough call for Sachin?
India’s next captain should be able to lead from the front, set examples with his performance, be a team-player, a good manager, aggressive and be able to continue as captain till the next world cup to top all (a change in captaincy before world cup would be a big set-back to get over). Saurav in my opinion has it all - his remarkable come back and statistics as Indian captain makes him the top candidate as India’s captain. After Kapil it’s only in him that I see the spirit to win us the elusive World Cup that we as a nation so crave to bring home!
The T20 team minus Sachin, Saurav and Dravid is pretty young and inexperienced, with only Shehwag, Yuvraj and Harbhajan as senior players. Dhoni’s ability with the bat makes it fairly acceptable to have him as captain in T20 matches, where hitting the ball is the ‘mantra’. But when it comes to leading team India in One day and Test matches, the boys would want to look up to someone who has put a lot of years in the middle. Cricket is a game of nerves/ team coordination and I believe Dhoni is too young and inexperienced for the job as captain. Making Dhoni the captain for the 50 over matches is a gamble which BCCI is playing with the stakes really high.
Would Sachin captain the test team? Sachin, beyond doubt, is one of the best players of the game, time-tested and unanimously accepted. But Sachin as the captain of India has not had a good record - not only had the team suffered defeats but also his individual performance went for a toss. More importantly lasting three more seasons, building up a winning team and commanding respect from the younger members with his waning performance - is it not a tough call for Sachin?
India’s next captain should be able to lead from the front, set examples with his performance, be a team-player, a good manager, aggressive and be able to continue as captain till the next world cup to top all (a change in captaincy before world cup would be a big set-back to get over). Saurav in my opinion has it all - his remarkable come back and statistics as Indian captain makes him the top candidate as India’s captain. After Kapil it’s only in him that I see the spirit to win us the elusive World Cup that we as a nation so crave to bring home!
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