Dear Dr. Mallya - Inbox at Cricinfo

Secondly, Dravid was criticised for the recruitment policies adopted by your franchise. In actuality, Martin Crowe in his role as cricket operations officer was most responsible for the recruitment of players. However, even players who were suited to the Twenty20 format such as Cameron White, Dale Steyn and Jacques Kallis (at least with the ball) underperformed, while the same can be said for Misbah ul-Haq who you personally recruited. On the other hand, someone like Wasim Jaffer who cost only US$100000 scored a 40 and 50 but was widely criticised despite being injured for the majority of the season. Ultimately if the players don't perform there is little the captain can do.

Indeed, despite all the doom and gloom Bangalore still won 4 games, including one against eventual finalists the Chennai Super Kings, and suffered close losses against Kolkata Knight Riders by 5 runs, Delhi Daredevils by 10 runs and Chennai Super Kings by 13 runs. What's more, they finished comfortably ahead of Deccan, who were supposedly far superior to Bangalore's 'Test team'.

Kevin Pietersen has been touted as a possible captaincy candidate. However, it should be remembered that England players will only be available for the first 3 weeks. Pietersen would certainly not be setting a good example as captain by leaving. It should also be remembered that Kevin Pietersen's only allegiance to Bangalore is money. His services are loyal only to the highest bidder. This attitude is in stark contrast to Dravid, who is a Bangalore boy through and through and without whom the idea of city-based franchises, and indeed the idea of the IPL, would never have been possible. Dumping Dravid as captain may alienate many Bangalore supporters whose allegiance to their team was due to their local boy captaining the side, which could result in lower ticket sales and thus lower profits, which in this recession-hit world is certainly something to be avoided if possible.

However, the biggest reason not to install Pietersen as captain would be his ego which, as proved by the Peter Moores saga, is incompatible with figures of authority. His stint as England captain has raised serious concerns about his ability to deal with people, and with new coach Ray Jennings also being a strong personality, it is difficult to see how the two can work together, despite Jennings' statements. Indeed, Jennings' belief that the Moores saga will motivate Pietersen even more as a captain is indicative of the fact that Pietersen is motivated by himself and his ego only.

In contrast, Dravid comes across as a gentleman who always puts the team ahead of his own needs, which is an important attribute for a captain to have. Thus, I believe that you should retain Rahul Dravid as Bangalore Royal Challengers captain for the second season of the IPL. I hope you remember what Rahul Dravid has done for Bangalore is far more than Kevin Pietersen or even you will ever do, because if you alienate the people of Bangalore you may find that the damage will be irreparable. I trust you will do the right thing.

For all you folks who are pessimistic about BRC's chances this time around too, here are few reasons why I think they will perform better, much better:
1> Nathan Bracken will play. He is the most economical bowler in world cricket today and has won Australia matches at the death single-handedly in recent times. Ofcourse, he is grossly under-rated which is a good thing.
2> KP is still smarting from the blow to his ego after the captaincy saga. I have never seen any other cricketer who is so brilliantly self-motivated. Brian C. Lara comes a close second. I have no doubts whatsoever that KP will stamp his presence on IPL Season 2, which would mean atleast couple of easy wins. Go KP Go.
3> A new coach in Ray Jennings. This may not translate to wins immediately, but this would atleast mean meaningful selection. The worst part of last season's team was the local presence. Yes Akhil did shine on rare occasions, but collectively they were "hopeless". I'm hoping the "youngsters" are much better

If a person has played decent amount of cricket and has followed the recently concluded Eng-India ODIs we can see the way KP captained his side. I am not talking about the 5-0 result but the specifics about his captaincy. Whether its the ball by ball feild changes or poor homework on the Indian batsman or the helplessness when his views conflict with his bowlers. I dont understand why people always follow the OVER HYPED British media. I am a big fan of KP ( as a batsman), just love to watch the way he dominates, but honestly he wont make a good captain CURRENTLY. When you compare Dravid's team selection issues, the spotlight will be on the captain whether the team wins or loses, and he should have taken firm stand on his views and not compromise with the people who have not even played half the cricket he has.
I dont knw who suggested mallya to chose wasim jaffer,jaq kallis, sunil joshi, swapping zak for robin(where zak is in his prime) but it is his money and the result too...

Though i agree with your posting and the sentiments attached, i have a different view. Rahul has been humiliated by a liquor baron who doesnot have have principles in life. He is the lowest form of life available and its unfortuante that my city farnchise is owned by such a person. What i dont understand is why Rahul is undesgoing all this humiliation. Who is Ray Jennings to comment on the icon of Bangalore. Rahul should immediately retire from IPL and reject the remainder of contract and refuse to take money from Mallya. He will keep his dignity and i guess he has made enough money and another $1.5 M dollar for the reamainder 2 yrs of contract is not going to make much difference. With this action he will endear more to the people of Bangalore.

Yup!!! this is a good piece. I want to add something to this. First of all the problem is with Mallaya only. He puts players under lot of pressure. He needs hype. He reveals every thing to media. I guess in team meetings Mallya may have used harsh words in first IPL season. Can't Mallya do everything inside? Owner should encourage players. Prepare them well. Define exact roles of each and every player in the team. Don't confuse them. I think in the next IPL, the BRC team would be (my choice) 1. Robin Utappa 2. Rahul Dravid 3. Ross Taylor 4. Kevin Pietersen 5. Virat Kholi 6. Mark Boucher or Cameron White 7. Anil Kumble 8. Dale Steyen or Nathan Bracken 9. Praveen Kumar 10. Bharat Chipli 11. Vinay Kumar. He may change one or two players. Is this the bad team? No body would describe this team as bad team. They just need encouragement and good planning. Be patient Mr. Mallya.

Well written. a few humble points...

(1) Yes Dravid should lead the team - he is iconic

(2) Dravid maybe replaced by a few fine Bangalroians - How about Kumble!

(3) but Mr. Mallya will have his way - u know y? When money speaks, nobody checks the grammar".

(4) let Pieterson be the skipper - lets see who's the bigger ego - the captain or the owner?
and finally...

(5) how about changing the owner & not the captain - what if the team were to remain the same & Dravid its captain - but the owner were to change to a certain Mr. Narayanmurthy! Imagine how well suited that culture would be to the admirable Bangalorian culture.

OF COURSE I know Mr. Nrayanmurthy would'nt even like the fact that his name was suggested for such 'frothy times' - but I am hinting at a culture rather than a person, an approach, an attitude!

He & Dravid would perhaps not win the next IPL - not even the one after that - but would win the fourth & never lose ever after.

I cannot disagree more.Dravid may be a gentleman but that is not what BRC need.They need a taskmaster capable of commanding 100% from the players.While it may be debatable whether KP can pull off such a thing,there is no doubt in my mind that Dravid cannot.Players like Kallis were capable of much better performances and they just seemed aloof.Dravid picked Kallis time(allowed him to bowl the 4th over after being pasted all around in his first 3) and again after his pathetic show(mainly bowling) game after game which might have been influenced by his respect for Kallis.Performance,(like how Dhoni dropped Murali) and not respect should take the front seat if BRC have any hopes to make the semis this time.Peitersen has much to prove after his sacking as England captain,and he would like to prove he is very much worth the $1.55mil.No disrespect to Dravid ,I am not sure if KP is the right choice,but Dravid is not.