Dravid resigns as India captain

honestbharani said:

I gotta ask, what is ITSTL?

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Interesting to say the least. A question usually asked by someone roughly once a week.

Richard said:

Interesting to say the least. A question usually asked by someone roughly once a week.

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and yet u guys keep using it.






kidding.

Interesting move from Dravid. I'd agree that he's worth more as a top-class batsman, especially with the Pakistan and Australia series' coming up, than he is as a middling sort of captain.

News of Dravid's resignation really came from nowhere. The media weren't pressuring him nor was he doing a bad job to warrant a resignation. Really suprised, I suppose captaining India is always gonna be a poisoned chalice.

Must say I'd like to have Sourav back as captain, he is back an settled in the Test team and we all know his aggressive nature bodes well for another stint at the helm. Although his batting will inevitably drop I feel Dravid will more than adequately make up for it.

Probably a good move IMHO, Dravid in prime batting form >>> Saurav in prime batting form

irfan said:

Probably a good move IMHO, Dravid in prime batting form >>> Saurav in prime batting form

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I think that goes without saying really.

Yes one did not see it coming but the moment the news broke I told my wife I am not surprised.

No he wasnt the best captain we have had but we have had much worse.

His batting stats may support his claim that he would like to concentrate on his batting but I doubt if that is his motivation.

Criticism by media is terrible in India and worse since most of them cant tell one side of the bat from the other but I doubt if Dravid would leave because of that. He was far too stoic.

I suspect there are other pin-pricks. One can only speculate on what these might be.

Dravid was not happy about not having a full time head coach and must have been upset about no solid efforts to get a good one quick. He, being close to the scene would know exactly who and what was behind the coach imbroglio and Dravis is one guy who would feel terrible with murky goings on.

Other two seniors in the team viz Sachin and Saurav seemed comfortable with the two mini-coaches and septugenarian part time manager and said so openly in public. Dravid could not have failed to notice that.

Not having a coach with whom he would sit and take decisions with clear ideas is something he must be missing. Having a large party of several seniors (some not that senior) along with teo mini-coaches and an out-dated manager chipping in for a noisy policy meeting cant be something a fastidious person like Dravid could be happy about.

We all criticise his decision not to declare but having someone like Zaheer talking to the media about it with a tongue in cheek remark about "neither me nor the other bowlers were tired or anything like that" must rancle. It cant be forgotten that when Zaheer was dropped from the team for various reasons (form being one of them) Dravid and his former coach were the main decision makers.

We may not come to know the correct reason for Dravid's decision but one can try and guess. Whichever way I look, I cant find a 'straight' explanation.

Sad.

With important tours, Australia at home and then tours of Pakistan and Australia ahead, appointing untried persons may not be desirable. Sachin may or may not accept. With his just discovered frredom at the crease one hopes for Sachin's and country's sake that he doesn't. That leaves Saurav which may happen but the feeling of Rahul being cleverly manupulated into this position might appear stronger even if one cant say it is certainly the case.

Very difficult time indeed. No Sehwag as a permanent member of the side, no Kumble and no Kaif either. The other options of Yuvraj appears dicey. Its almost like making Afridi captain of Pakistan (Iknow, I know the difference).

Dhoni seems only choice but is he ready ?

I know that in many ways it would be a step backwards, but in my eyes the only serious alternative to replace him is SC Ganguly.

Dhoni is fearless and has the respect of the players plus age is on his side, but remember it was only a coupla months ago people were debating whether he'd be picked for the first test against England or not, and although he was good with bat and tidy with gloves in that series I still dont feel his test place is set in concrete.

I've never thought that Tendulkar's nature suited the captaincy, for all his brilliance as a player and the respect he commands from peers and opponents as well as the huge pride he no doubt has in his country. To me he has always seemed very timid and reserved and I just got the impression he downright did not want to captain. I know Dravid is quite a shy fellow aswell but he has always been very intelligent and insightful when dealing with the media and public, whereas with Sachin he always looked extremely bothered and reluctant in the public eye. I think he is and will remain a superb right-hand-man for any captain but nothing more.

Laxman has always struck me as both very intelligent and a very cool head under pressure, and I would be suprised to see him fail as a skipper. however he's getting on and isnt the player he once was plus his ODI days are over.

Sehwag would've been the logical succesor two years ago but surely (gulp ) wont even get a mention at the selection meeting now.

Yuvraj strikes me as a bit self-centred and arrogant, just my impressions, he dosent look like captaincy material to me, plus he cant get into the test side.

Zaheer is the bolter for me, no way I would hand him the captaincy but for lack of options and due to his aggression and passion the selectors could be persuaded. Which would be a real shame because he's finally started getting his game together as a bowler and having an injury free spell so to burden him with captaincy would be poor managment plus I expect he has next to no experience.

Ganguly has the respect of his peers, he is (for the time being) a sure pick in both test and ODI sides, tactically good and we all saw the sort of fight he was able to instill in his players. He has been the standout Indian skipper of the last two decades and to ignore him and burden a young and not completely established player or turn to a reluctant older head would be plain stupid. Plus...wouldnt it cap a lovely comeback story?

I just can't help but laugh at the state of Indian cricket, nobody is interested in coaching them so they are playing without a coach and now they don't have a (capable) captain either.
Now, Dravid was not a great captain but he certainly was the best man for the job in the Indian team atm.
Selectors have announced that Tendulkar is in the race for captaincy (IIRC, there was a rumour before the World cup that Tendulkar is interested in captaincy) so i won't be suprised at all if Tendulkar becomes India's next captain, but i think that would be a very bad move.

This makes no sense.

He just went out and won the first series in England in 21 years. Why in the world would he resign? Before that, he won the first game ever in South Africa and a series in West Indies after 30 years.

He wasn't the best tactician, but the team was doing so well under him. I suppose his personal form got to him, but he was starting to look in touch again too.

I swear, if Dhoni becomes captain, I'll commit seppuku. Why is he even an option? He is not even a Test quality batsman. And he is mentally weak...he admitted that he played those shots in Mumbai a couple years back because the pressure got to him. Well, it ain't getting any easier when you're the captain buddy.

pup11 said:

I just can't help but laugh at the state of Indian cricket, nobody is interested in coaching them .

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No body is interested in coaching the Indian team ??? What planet are you on ? It is one of the highest paying jobs in world cricket and one of the most high profile......you can bet your bottom dollar their will be plenty of interest.....the way the BCCI handles such interest is another matter altogether but there's no denying that the job is a lucartive one.

silentstriker said:

This makes no sense.

He just went out and won the first series in England in 21 years. Why in the world would he resign? .

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Plenty of potential reasons:
1) Take him at face value and believe him that yes he does want to focus on his batting
2) 'Politics' - Dravid is not getting on with elements in the BCCI or players in his own team.
3) This move has been in the offing for a while and at least he 's leaving on the back of a relatively successful tour of the UK.

Like everybody else, I'm shocked. Had he gone at the end of their shocking WC I wouldn't have been surprised but after thier first win over a competent England side in England since 1971 (the 1986 England team were a shambles) it is a surprise. I can only think he's had enough of the pressure but its not clever leaving your succsessor Australia , Pakistan and then Australia again. With that schedule (and bear in mind India seem to appoint ex captains more than most - Nawab of Pataludi jr, Sunil, Kapil; and Sachin all had more than one go) I would not be surprised if Sourav - the Comeback occured - and I would say its a better option than Dhoni, Sachin again and Jaffer - who has barely established himself in the team. One name I've thought of though - has VVS captained anyone? (Probably only an option if they want a split captaincy - unlikely)

I think this illustrates India's total lack of succession planning.
I"m not advocating a large scale makeover of the team but it was quite clear after the test series defeat in RSA and the world cup debacle, that fresh blood was needed.....
Re: Test series win in England - I'm not hugely convinced....let's be honest we would have lost the first test had it not been for rain and the likes of Sachin and Saurav profited against a second string English attack.
When it came to the crunch in RSA, these guys were found wanting......
Our ODI form has been woeful for some time now.....yet we still see the same old faces.

Giving deserving young players a chance would give you the opportunity to build a team for future success. You would have the opportunity to earmark one or two guys for leadership......India don't really have that option at the moment and they have only themselves to blame.

Poker Boy said:

has VVS captained anyone? (Probably only an option if they want a split captaincy - unlikely)

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He hasn't captained India...although he has captained at domestic level.
Here's another potential choice () ....ANil Kumble.
Yes, its a test-only option and probably a short term one at that but in the current mess, who knows ?

silentstriker said:

I swear, if Dhoni becomes captain, I'll commit seppuku. Why is he even an option? He is not even a Test quality batsman. And he is mentally weak...he admitted that he played those shots in Mumbai a couple years back because the pressure got to him. Well, it ain't getting any easier when you're the captain buddy.

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Well at least he was honest enough to admit the pressure got to him....
no one is perfect.
Why do you continue to dwell on his dismissal at Mumbai ? Every batsman gets out in a manner they're not particularly proud of....i just don't see why he should be crucified for that....ok he made a mistake, let's see if he can learn from that.......his 76 n.o at Lords tis year helped India to stave off defeat ( the rain helped also) but Dhoni hung in in conditions which were definietly conducive to the bowlers and that certainly tells me that he can play when his team has its back to the wall....

I just don't get this adverse reaction to Dhoni .....yes his technique isn't textbook but he isn't without redeeming qualities.

Kaiser said:

Well at least he was honest enough to admit the pressure got to him....
no one is perfect.
Why do you continue to dwell on his dismissal at Mumbai ? Every batsman gets out in a manner they're not particularly proud of....i just don't see why he should be crucified for that....ok he made a mistake, let's see if he can learn from that.......his 76 n.o at Lords tis year helped India to stave off defeat ( the rain helped also) but Dhoni hung in in conditions which were definietly conducive to the bowlers and that certainly tells me that he can play when his team has its back to the wall....

I just don't get this adverse reaction to Dhoni .....yes his technique isn't textbook but he isn't without redeeming qualities.

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That was he worst and most over-rated match-saving innings I've ever seen. He bashed the crap out of the ball regularly to the boundary fielders and then didn't take any runs anyway, even when the balls weren't on the stumps and didn't need hitting at all. He played Michael Vaughan absolutely pathetically when he landed the ball on the cut portion as well, for whatever reason.

Dhoni proved you can bat like an idiot and still save a match, rather than proving he had the responsibility in him to do, IMO.

And he was caught behind long before the end of the innings, too.

Prince EWS said:

That was he worst and most over-rated match-saving innings I've ever seen. He bashed the crap out of the ball regularly to the boundary fielders and then didn't take any runs anyway, even when the balls weren't on the stumps and didn't need hitting at all. He played Michael Vaughan absolutely pathetically when he landed the ball on the cut portion as well, for whatever reason.

Dhoni proved you can bat like an idiot and still save a match, rather than proving he had the responsibility in him to do, IMO.

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Ding ding. Exactly right. If you read my comments when the match was going on, you'll see how badly he was playing. He didn't know what to do, so he did weird risky stuff like swinging his bat at everything. But then he didn't run. If you aren't going for a boundary and aren't going to run, why are you coming down the track and taking wild swipes? It made no sense. He was asking to get out. He couldn't handle the pressure even then.

The only difference between the Mumbai innings and the one at Lord's was that in Mumbai he played badly and got out. At Lord's, he played badly but managed to save the game. Nine times out of ten, playing the way he did at Lord's would have been a gift of his wicket. We don't need that in a future captain.

Kaiser said:

Re: Test series win in England - I'm not hugely convinced....let's be honest we would have lost the first test had it not been for rain and the likes of Sachin and Saurav profited against a second string English attack.

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Second-string maybe (though there was only one notable bowler, Hoggard, missing) but that second-string attack - Sidebottom especially, though Tremlett and of times Anderson very much also - still bowled extremely well and presented a tough challenge which the Indians did very well to repel.

When it came to the crunch in RSA, these guys were found wanting......

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They weren't, though, they actually batted very well. Given conditions and the high calibre of bowling, Tendulkar, Laxman and Ganguly were all highly praiseworthy.

silentstriker said:

Ding ding. Exactly right. If you read my comments when the match was going on, you'll see how badly he was playing. He didn't know what to do, so he did weird risky stuff like swinging his bat at everything. But then he didn't run. If you aren't going for a boundary and aren't going to run, why are you coming down the track and taking wild swipes? It made no sense. He was asking to get out. He couldn't handle the pressure even then.

The only difference between the Mumbai innings and the one at Lord's was that in Mumbai he played badly and got out. At Lord's, he played badly but managed to save the game. Nine times out of ten, playing the way he did at Lord's would have been a gift of his wicket. We don't need that in a future captain.

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And, of course, it actually was - the Umpire just didn't notice the nick.