Even before Rahul Dravid can pick up his boarding pass for the journey back home, the stage is set to slaughter the captain on the tarmac of ad-hocism. BCCI sources have let out word that The Most Reliable Batsman in the History of Cricket will be replaced following the team’s ouster in the first round of the ninth World Cup. And the replacement could be Sachin Tendulkar because —hold your breath—Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh are “not ready”.
While Dravid’s removal will propitiate the demons of public opinion, the question is should Sachin (who scored ‘0’—zero, zilch, nada—in the crucial innings against Sri Lanka) take over from Dravid? Was there anything in Sachin’s first stint to suggest that a great batsman can become a great captain the second time round? When Sachin can barely hold his place in the side, should he be thrust the responsibility? Under Sharad Pawar and Dilip Vengsarkar are we returning to another spell of regionalism?
Hello KP
As u may have noticed, people are sick of cricket and writing on it..therefore u dont see any response to postings on cricket..hope you get the drift and change the topic
thanks
Dravid has the record to back him but records aren’t sufficient to lead a side. You need something more, what the Brits call the X-factor. Saurav Ganguly had it. He has scored half the Test runs as Dravid despite making his debut in the same match. Yet as captain, he was peerless. I suspect only the very rich or the very poor can be good captains of an Indian cricket team. Like Pataudi and Ganguly. All the rest, including Gavaskar and Dravid I’m afraid, are too middleclass. They are way too unadventurous, way too unassertive, way too conscious, way too safety-first. Sachin Tendulkar, despite his recent wealth, is still in the end very middleclass. It showed the first time, it will show again.
Hello KP
Nobody is interested with anything about cricket..hence no responses to two posting in the game today..actually quite annoying to see anything on cricket…hope you got the drift …request you post on some other topic..
Also, i want ti suggest a posting / topic ..how do i do that ?
This at a time when we should be asking Sachin if he really deserves a place in the team. Watching him in action suggests he should have quit a good two years back. Would be a really sad day if he is given the mantle back. What we need is some out-of-the-box thinking. Did Graeme Smith think he was ready when he was made the captain? Dhoni shouldnt be a bad idea either.
Captaincy will pave way for an unceremonious exit for Sachin. Also he is a very bad captain who never mingles with the team. It will be 1+10 members as it was the case in the past when he led India.
To remove Dravid from Captaincy and hand it overe to Sachin would not be the right thing for Indian cricket. Even though we lost out in the WC, Dravid’s captaincy was not that bad, as it is made out to be. Even now, Dravid is the Wall of Indian cricket, he has been a consistent player. The same cannot said be said about Sachin. His repeated failures cannot be brushed under the carpet, nor can we go about glorifying his past record. Agreed, Sachin is also ageing and he is not the same explosive player as he once used to be. Now a days, he makes heavy weather of batting. It would be surprising, if he were to be selected, now that his name figures as the next captain is all the most dismaying and unbelievable.
In case Sachin T is made the captain, he should ask himself whether he really deserves the place. If he accepts the offer, he would have for ever shamed himself.
Sachin’s record as captain is not a reflection of his captaincy skills. Its a reflection of the below average side that he was given by the selectors on two tough tours overseas. We had jokes like Jacob Martin and m s k prasad(he’s the guy from andhra who was the keeper right?) debuting in Australia against the strongest australian side in atleast two decades. And then we had ganguly(or was it robin singh) pass for pace/opening/strike bowlers in the windies.
That said, it will take only a bunch of jokers to hand the captaincy over to Sachin ahead of Saurav, the greatest captain that India’s ever had.
Making Sachin as captain is an unmitigated disaster. Give him credit for his achievement but now he is a shadow of his original self and it is a pity he did not announce his retirement before the start of th world cup and on the contrary he said to the effect that he is looking for 2011 world cup and now he is in for a sack unless Maharashtrian pride of the BCCI pRESIDENT asserts, what away to go! Already Bengalese are baying for the blood of Dravid and if Saurav Ganguly is not made the captain our conmrades will not support UPA govt. Therefore, Saurav will be the captain by default whether one likes it or not. Why not his famous jacket waving act in Lords indicative of defiance which qualifies him for the job. The only other chap who comes to mind as nearest alternative is Srisanth with his act of twirling the bat as a mace, a la Bheema style. There are no others who can be considered for the captain’s job.
I prefer Kapil Dev or Mohindar Amarnath.
What about Mandira Bedi ?!
I would prefer Mandira Bedi to be the coach of our Indian Team !!
Any takers??
Sachin as captain–will reinforce my belief in cricket as a Loser’s Game. Which sport can accommodate its non-performers and reward them with captaincy? Cricket does!
Kulla is the Greatest!
This is the only way Sachin can be scored–we will probably get a few runs off him, which he would never score anyway:)
Clever, devilishly clever editing by KP!
I doff my hat to you!
DB
I wonder what that X factor is ? Waving your shirt in defiance ? I have watched Pataudi, he was not demonstrative at all. For that matter even Brealrly was very obtrusive on the field.Captain is for the remaining 10 in the field not for the zillions watching on the tube. Captain is one who is looked up by the team members on and off the field. So let us cut out this crap. If you really need a sacrificing drama then only VVS Laxman can fill the breach as the most classy, deserving cricketer with enough experience as captain in the domestic cricket and lastly free from the stinking world cup fracas.
Dear All,
Bapu, RFM, JR and others
WTF is wrong with continuing with Dravid as captain?
How is he supposed to win matches when pansies like Chenguli and Kulla keep falling down each time! I don’t get it.
Sure Dravid made a few mistakes–but that in no way diminishes his exemplary dedication to do well in every match. I wish I could say the same about the ‘Least greatest Midget Ghati’ money-grubbing git!
Hi Guys,
This one from PTI
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Swamy threatens to sue BCCI for targeting Chappell, Dravid
PTI
Monday, March 26, 2007 21:19 IST
NEW DELHI: Accusing some BCCI officials, including vice-President Rajiv Shukla, of planting stories against Team India skipper Rahul Dravid and coach Greg Chappell in the media, Janata Party supremo Subramanium Swamy has threatened to sue the board if it failed to stop them.
“The BCCI has unfortunately made the selection process cricket players, team captain and coach a matter of public debate and discourse,” Swamy said.
Accusing the BCCI vice-President of planting stories against a select group of players, Swamy said the speculation surrounding the future of Dravid and Chappell proved that insiders such as Shukla were feeding the media.
“The media has pounced on selective leaks of individual members of the BCCI such as Rajiv Shukla, who have been regularly interacting with members of the press to get stories planted in favour or against certain cricketers,” he said.
“The latest news in the media speculating the dismissal of both Dravid and Chappell bears the stamp of such a motivated campaign,” he added.
Swamy said if the board did nothing to stop the campaign, he would be forced to drag it to the court.
“If the BCCI will not stop the selective leads and target inconvenient players who are otherwise performing under very difficult circumstances, I will have no alternative in the public interest but to approach the court and seek a full fledged inquiry into the working of BCCI,” he threatened.
/*******************************************************/
WTF is wrong with continuing with Dravid as captain?
Simple. He had a job to do which was to lead the team to at least the semi finals and he failed. Miserably. So he goes. As does Chappell. This is how it works in the real world. Why should it be any different for these jokers?
“exemplary dedication to do well” is nice but won’t win world cups.
A
So Dravid failed miserably, eh? And Kulla and Chenguli are winners?!!
Oh yeah? Then the balls on the likes of Kulla and Chenguli should be skewered on hot coals and offered up to pie dogs! Only they might refuse to even smell it…
Dodda Budhiavare, ( old mysoreans use the phrase budhi to an Ursu gentlemen ! Are You one ?)
CHURUMURI POLL: Should Dravid, Chappell go?
nAnu Enu hELidIni nODi. I do not see any reason to change Dravid for the present. But if you really have to change to assuage the feeling of the nation and also stop the war of ego among the top three, then VVS appears to be the safe bet and non controversial.
JR
Naanu ‘Buddhiyavaralla’ saar. Swalpa thagollo-khushi jeevi astey!
Correct, that’s my opinion too.
May be it is better to have two teams–one of ODIs and the other for tests. Seems like a logical solution to me. We can even have a third team comprising the likes of Kulla and Chenguli who can play in Calcutta and Mumbai respectively, day in and day out.
So Dravid failed miserably, eh?
Absolutely.
And Kulla and Chenguli are winners?!!
Of course not, but the issue of Dravid (and Chappell) going is separate from who will replace him (them). There is no one in this team who has the stature and presence of a captain. So the best thing to do is withdraw from international cricket for a couple of years or hold tournaments with Bhutan, Nepal, Bermuda and Canada where Dravid can be “inspirational” and Sehwag can be “destructive”
A
OK. Let’s go as per your suggestion, then.
IMHO that’s a fair deal.
A,
You seem confused: “the best thing to do is withdraw from international cricket for a couple of years or hold tournaments with Bhutan, Nepal, Bermuda and Canada”
Anyway, why on earth should India stop playing international cricket? It’s a game after all. Grow up, dude. Failure and victory are the two faces of a coin — it’s got to be one or the other inevitably.
Till the other day, people were talking if Sachin is to be written off. Now that the team has failed, the Captain, Coach and few players are under the scanner. The media has been focusing on Sachin, Sachin and only Sachin as the one who could take on the mantle of Indian cricket. The record of the team under him is pathetic. Many would remember that India literally used to struggle for a win. The team was never a team.
For the BCCI to be more transparent, the likes of Pawar, Shukla, Dalmiya, etc should be chased out. Also the Chairman of Selectors’ should be someone having some stature. Col.Veng is alright, but this place should not be for someone like Kiran More. I find it ridiculous when More says that he wants to give opportunities to someone of the calibre of Kumble or VVS.
Let us see what happens during the BCCI meeting next month. All the ex-captains would be in that meeting. This means some sensible non-Mumbaities too, some speak their mind, some give their consent. Let us pin our hopes on Bedi, Patuadi, Venkat or Kapil if not on Gav, Shastri, Veng or Wadekar.
VVS as the Captain, interesting! Only the age would be a concern.
Surprise surprise! We don’t want a capatain who scores ZERO in a crucial match who scored 40 centuries. We don’t want a wall, on which any dog can piss on any day, we dont want DADA as captain who gives badha on craucial day and who’s eye sights are as bad as his technique.
Lets Make sure these three guys becomes models for only for ‘Retirement benifit Funds’ and nothing else.
Lets BCCI show some guts and sack or ask the above three to retire and lets build a new team which may win against Bangldesh in the next worldcup.
If yuvaraj Singh is likely to be made the captain, they must NOT include any of the erstwhile captains in the team.The former captains will undermine the authority of the captain and pull the team in different directions even in the midst of a match. This happened to poor Miandad, when ,as a captain, he found Zaheer Abbas, Majid Khan and Imran Khan seting the field by moving two or three players loyal to them!
If you are changing things do it lock, stock and barrel.Sack all seniors.That includes Sachin, Sourav ,Sehwag , Kumble and even Dravid.Have a new team for both tests and onedayers…It will take a while, but it’s worth it. You will have a young, fighting, fit team who can be trained without any hangups.Put limits on Ads, hype etc. Pay by performance.. you will see the result coming…
Aditya, Clearly you don’t understand sarcasm.
And it’s when you grow up that you understand that performance and compensation are tied. BTW, Professional sport is not just a game. Let them play for nothing while holding day jobs and then I’ll say “it’s just a game”