Yet, once Dalmiya developed a comfort level with Wright – more important, once India started winning – he left him alone, or as alone as a coach can be left by the BCCI. Next, despite the Board's inner wranglings and bizarre elections, the men in suits had enough sense to appoint Greg Chappell as coach.

How successful Chappell will be is for the future. By biting the bullet and removing Ganguly, he's shown who's boss. The message is clear: my way or no way. If he fails, we'll crucify the man and the principle; if he succeeds, he's ready for sainthood or whatever's the Indian equivalent.

Yet none of the success of the past half-decade would have happened without a "happy breed of men" – good, broadly straightforward guys who played for the team, didn't plant stories behind each other and, between them, provided Indian cricket its most prodigious reservoir of leadership in living memory.

Sourav Ganguly was the captain, of course, but it just so easily could have been Rahul Dravid. Anil Kumble as elder statesman, contract negotiator and counsel-at-hand; Sachin Tendulkar as the man who was thrust into the captaincy too early, lost it but didn't really bother with trying to intrigue his way back; VVS Laxman, as straitlaced as his bat isn't – this was a rare constellation.

As such, when Ganguly faltered, Dravid could slip into his shoes without a iota of a question. Mark Taylor's gone? Bring on Steve Waugh.

By 2007 – the World Cup is a rough date, but only a rough one – our quintet would have played its last melody. Perhaps only Laxman will stay on in the Test team a couple of years longer. There'll be a serious intellectual vacuum at the top. Who'll captain India next? Who'll be around shoulder the burden of this incredibly gifted, incredibly mature bunch?

The question gives me the shivers.

There's much I want as an Indian but know I can't get. I want a prime minister who will ignore everything and everyone – okay, okay, ignoring Prakash Karat will do – push ahead with reforms, make India a manufacturing success story, take us on to the path of sustained economic growth and prosperity.

I also want a BCCI that is managed by a professional CEO, which draws up itineraries years in advance, runs with efficiency the multi-million dollar business corporation it is but pretends it isn't.

I'm not going to get either of these – perhaps not in two decades, perhaps not in three lifetimes.

In the absence of a clearheaded BCCI, governed by a strong work ethic and a resolute idea of where it wants to take Indian cricket, the team's success will always be dependent on strong leadership. A good captain – or maybe just a risk-taking one, who backs his hunches, supports his players, talks to each of them in individual languages they understand, stands up to the media, doesn't wilt into diffidence when confronted with an English-speaking commentator at the end of the game, has opinions to offer – will do.

True, there's a sense of elitism born into my argument. I genuinely believe that while everybody can play cricket, not everybody can be a cricket team's captain – as opposed to a water polo team's captain – especially not in an Indian XI that always has to be more than the sum of multi-lingual, multi-cultural parts. Cricketers may be "born", captains need to "made".

We need to nurture our next captain. Perhaps run him through communication lessons, psychological speed courses, whatever. If only Chappell could identify his shortlist, and nudge the BCCI. Otherwise, I fear we'll get Virender Sehwag by default and just hope he gets it right.

Ashok Malik is a senior journalist based in Delhi, and his day job is at the Indian Express.

Devangshu Datta will post his views next, on Sunday, November 20, afternoon India time.

I dont think we'll just get Sehwag by default. He has played a crucial role in many important test wins, building long innings. He has shown that he can bowl very intelligently. He is also being groomed well,with vice-captaincy, and the occasional captaincy.

One excellent way to groom and unearth good captains would be to make at least half the Ranji Trophy be played at a time when there are no other international assignments, ensuring that budding captaincy talents, like Sehwag, Kaif, Yuvraj, and I daresay Dhoni, can square off against each other in crucial 4-day matches.

Kaif is the future captain, he has done it in the past leading India to the Under 19 World Cup. He needs to be involved in the leadership group very soon, but first he must cement his place in both forms of the game. For now its Dravid's turn to shine, regardless of whether Ganguly makes his long awaited comeback.

I sincerely think that the writer has hit the nail on the head.Sourav Ganguly,I can't resist talking about the man,took India to a pedestal where they matched thier opponenets eye to eye,be it pakistanis or theier antipodean counterparts.Though I do acknowledge that Dravid is a touch higher on the acumen scale,I can't but feel sorry for our very own Dada.As of looking forward,I think our team is in safe hands so long Dravid,Tendulkar stays around.But I cant fathom this whole business of Sehwag bieng the captain in making.My choice would be Mohammad Kaif without a fleck of doubt.Kaif,too,suffers from mystifying dips in form like Sehwag but the man has certain airs of dilligence,discipline,bloody minded focus and pereseverence.What more,he has captained India in junior categories and that will certainly hold him in good stead.He has no extravagance about him but at the same time ,taking it as diffidence would be perilious.He doesn't make mincemeat about his omissions from the team and filters out the unessential things in his own inimitable way.I have no grudges against Sehwag,rather he has been my favourite for long,but I think he would be better off bieng left taking care of his own batting which is of utmost importance to the team.And all said and done ,I would rather want our team to be a such a well oiled outfit that the question 'Who's the skipper' becomes obselete.

I don't agree that it could easily have been Dravid that led the resurgence following the match-fixing fiasco, but that's not the main point of discussion here. (And no, contrary to what might seem, I am a huge Dravid fan.)

Not having a
"clearheaded BCCI" will not do. We'll make do, since we have no other choice. But it will always hold Indian cricket back, prevent it from achieving the heights that it is capable of.

It's a good idea to nurture future captains and impart skills not related to cricket. And not just to potential captains.

The question that gives you the shiver used to give me a shiver too. It doesn't as much anymore since Chappell has paved the way for a transition that will go smoother than the scenario with the Aussie team. Anyway, 2007 World Cup is too early a prediction. Tendulkar and Dravid seem irreplacable, but able men will come to the fore. And, to tell you the truth, no matter what they achieve, my generation will always look at Tendulkar and Dravid as being the best (much like my father's generation goes nostalgic about Engineer, Viswanath and company). We can't help it. But cricket will move on, find new heroes, create more stories, win more hearts.

BTW, it would be a good idea to post a bio of Ashok Malik somewhere. For ignoramuses like myself who have no clue who he is.

Pratik
http://yorker.wordpress.com

Ashok Malik raises an all important question - what happens when the quintet of Dravid, Ganguly, Sachin, Kumble and VVS hang up their boots? Safe to say that apart from VVS, none of them will be around post 2008. Sehwag seems to be being groomed for captaincy. It's a good question, but not because, as Ashok seems to suggest, of a lack of leadership skills. It's a good question because those are immense boots to fill. How will we replace some of the finest Indian players ever? Can we get another Sachin, or another Dravid? Another Kumble? Even Ganguly? Apart from Sachin, all these cricketers took time to become the world beaters they are. Will we have that kind of time? Unless the process of indentifying youngsters and giving them the opportunities to fail begins now, we might find ourselves in a position that Australia found themselves in when Greg Chappell, Rod Marsh and Dennis Lillie retired on the same day. It took them years to rebuild.

Happily, Greg Chappell seems to be aware of the need to groom youngsters over the next 2-3 years. The process has begun with the ODI squad. Hopefully that will be carried over in the tests as well.

As for leadership skils - it can hardly be an argument that if someone cannot speak in English properly, he or she cannot be a good leader. Dhirubhai Ambani was one, in case people have forgotten, and he built India's largest public company.

wicketmaiden.blogspot.com

Good point about the bio, Pratik, thanks. I've added a bio-line at the end of the post. Apologies for missing this earlier.

It should be Kaif-no doubt in that.He has done it before(under 19)& definitely would be a better captain than Sehwag.I think Sehwag has been made captain only because of politics & because he was batting very well in the period he was made captain.At the same time Kaif was struggling for runs.As we know already, not all good batsmen make great captains(Sachin,Miandad,Botham,Vengsarkar).I think Kaif should be groomedfor captaincy, so that he can takeover from Dravid after the worldcup-whether we win or not.

Wonderful post this one by Ashok. And pessimistic though, the answers to his 2 questions are most likely be in the negative atleast for the next decade or two.
India not only needs to be a manufacturing success story but a 'infrastructure and manufacturing' success story and that is still a long way off. Gloating over a BPO success story will simply not do. Drawing an analogy, the 'infrastructure' of Indian cricket will take a major shake up in the coming years to sustain this current wave of success which is NOT unprecedented. And for that a professional set up is a non-negotiable.
It has got nothing to do with whether Ganguly should come back or not.
We just need to look at Indian Cricket history and it will be clear. Brilliant individual performances but erratic team results. We only hope that Chappell will be able to make India a 'consistent' cricketing power. Otherwise another Ganguly-Wright combine like obituary will be written about Dravid-Chappell combine in 5 years or 2.

I am perhaps a supporter of Dalmiya though I agree that he can be more CEO kinda. Kaif is the next captain by default.

I just read the people's comments. Everyone is for Kaif. He is one man who can take India places. I so much miss Azhar and I hope Kaif can replicate him.

hey guys, this team is better than the team that "almost won the 2003 world cup". for one damn good reason, this is a TEAM. Stop talking about finals losers, these guys can win if they go to final... thanks

the captaincy is quite an art and so is the batting. it's right that not all great batsmen make good captains, but still some do make really good ones, like Waugh and Taylor. we should understand that a captain is as good as his team. Moreover, it doesn't come naturally but you have to earn it. Some brave decisions which have made the past captains great were very well supported by the team. Who would have dared to say that Ganguly called it right to bat first under the overcast sky at Headingly if Bangar had not batted out of his skin. Adding to that, a captain's major role is that of a leader, who supports his troops, and Ganguly did it in the best way while backing Bhajji, Kaif, Yuvraj and even Dravid ( when he was struggling in ODI's, before becoming the keeper). Therefore, It's not the question of Kaif or Sehwag. the real thing is the nurturing of the player for becoming a captain. It could be anyone but we need to persist with him. Moreover, the argument that Sachin was a poor captain is ridiculous. Did the man ever got the bowling resorces of the captains who followed him?

Yeah Good Question for debate,
But i strongly believe that kaif should first look to cement his place in both forms of game, then only he can certainly become a default choice, But what must be the worry thing for him is, unlike sehwag he is not a batsman who can blast away the opposiion like sehwag (can) do. As i said earlier , he should look to cement his place, then it will be a cake way process for him.
But most important thing to remember in this captaincy issue is " Indian captains often found themselves in a panic situation where all the people starts blaming him(read captain) once ther is a flurry of losses". Remind Azahruddin and even Sourav Ganguly. Even what rahul dravid is enjoying is "just
a beggining" and there are really really tough times ahead for him.Why because Captaining india is the most complicated and difficult one where he have to perform and match the expectations of all the people. Finally he is the most talked about person in the India.

Cant's we let go of a non-issue?

Saurav keeps coming up again & again in various arguments, discussions & debates, but in our hearts we know he is not good enough. he is more of a political pawn. His past glory cannot be a justification for eternal contuinity. And why shouldn't rules be different for Saurav, as compared to VVS, Zaheer and the rest? Saurav has the demonic capacity to disrupt team harmony with his political allegiances to people who carried him so far. Dravid is, without doubt, (and whoever doubts this is a proven nitwit) a much better cricketer than Saurav, in any dapartment of the game - except maybe bowling - and the world knows it. Dravid has also got standing that has been formed by playing cricket the best way possible, not by swinging his shirt in public.

It is pure pessimism to point out that it will be curtains for the quartet. It certainly will be finito for Saurav (and much before that Kumble) but Rahul Sachin & VVS have at least 4-5 years of cricket left in them. If Lara, in his bloated form, can play at 36, why not these guys.

Kaif, Yuvraj, Sehwag & Pathan are my candidates for the next captain. And I feel already these 4 form the crux of the middle management of the team.

Just a point on Murali Karthik - Though this guy seems to have talent, he will never become a world class option for India. It is here that the worries lie. What after Bhajji? It gives me the shivers as I wonder... Can it be possible that within 4-5 years time, pitches in India will be tailormade for seam bowling?

Unthinkable, but a distinct possibility!

Why Kaif ! He does not even command a place in the test team yet.
He is a wonderful one-day player in the Jonty Rhodes mould but cant see him getting the same success at the test level. Ideally captains should be same for both test and one-day teams and Sehwag really has been our best player in both forms of the game in last few years (Apart from Dravid offcourse!) He seems to have naturally attacking instincts overall about his game That is a critical thing for a captain in my mind !Both as a batsman and a player he is only going to mature and become better. Come 2008..He will be ready to take on the mantle from Dravid.

A lot of people have been talking about false dawns, and that this has been another one (not on this thread, but on previous ones), but I really don't think this is a false dawn. Of course, we will have to wait till India travel out of the subcontinent, but the encouraging signs are the bowling and fielding. And India has not had a player who is as proffessional as Dravid or as well endowed in cricketing intelligence (except probably Tendulkar) for a long time. I want Ganguly to be back, because I feel there a few good years left in him, but Dravid as captain is the way forward. And no, I really don't think 2008 is the end for the quintet. As for the future captaincy, lots of youngsters are coming in and and perhaps in two, three years time we will be talking of candidates other than Sehwag and Kaif.

why you are bothering about a captain in the year of 2008? I never heard about Smith three years back, infact i come to know only when he was appointed as a captain. But he is doing fine for his team, although wverybody lacks few things There could be some "most valuable" player could appear for india as well. As long as we follow the cricket even when we are at the work, there could be so many players will appear. there are a lot of things to be covered. as we already experienced with the injuries to sachin and saurav, there are many chances for the youngstars. but when they want to groom a few youngstars, the seniors should not expected to play in all the games. when they win a series, they have to test their bench strength even in the test matches just like the last series against srilanka. better leave the talk and keep faith in the performance.

I don't know why you guys are streching so much on future captaincy. I can see a better future for indian cricket than now. They are becoming more competitive and adopting more versatile view. With more than billion of population, i am sure we are loaded with talents, much more than rest of the world. We are going to be champion in cricket as we are also improving in professionalism with many options.

I think ppl are being too hasty here. By 2007 WC, Dravid will only be 34 and so will Tendulkar. Im sure Dravid will keep playing for a couple of years after that maybe more. After all, most great players play till 37/38 - take steve waugh, lara just to name a few in modern times

My pick would be a bowler, he doesnt have to worry about scoring a 100 everytime he goes out to bat and does have a better feel of how n what needs to be done on a given pitch.

Team spirit is best seen while feilding and my pick for now would be the new allrounder IK Pathan

I think there are differences between the current lot of up-and-coming young players in the Indian side and the Dravid-Ganguly-Kumble generation in terms of their backgrounds and upbringing. Dravid, Kumble, Laxman and Ganguly are all well educated, hailing from urban metropolises and belong to the English speaking middle class--------to analogize from a different era, they are the gentlemen among the professionals. The likes of Sehwag, Zaheer, Irfan, RP Singh, Yuvraj, Kaif are, on the other hand, individuals from small town India, which necessarily entails a different perspective on the world, and quite possibly a somewhat warped one since they were thrust into the arena of international cricket when they were much younger than the previously mentioned lot. However, when it comes to captaincy of the Indian cricket team, I don't think that it makes a great deal of difference if a potential captain belongs to the category of "professionals" rather than "gentlemen." Sehwag and Irfan Pathan are cases in point-----they both suffer from a certain amount of diffidence before the camera and commentators which comes from an inability to speak English as though it were their mother-tongue; but watch them on the field and it is evident that they command the respect of their peers. It is also evident that they are thinking cricketers with an appreciation of the finer nuances of the game and of strategy, even if grammar sometimes fails them. As long as the potential captain(s) is on the same wavelength as the current captain and coach, he will be able to grasp the nettle when the time comes, with full knowledge of where the team stands and where they need to improve. Also, I personally think multi-cultural and multilingual skills in a cricket captain are overrated. I seriously doubt whether a player will respond significantly better to inputs in his own language from the captain vis-a-vis the inputs in English that are going to come their way from the coach and the captain. The players are a group of intelligent professionals and should be treated that way. So at the end of the day, as long as the captain is able to get his message across clearly, and is able to take command of the game when the need arises and make India a consistent, winning outfit, no one gives two hoots whether he can bandy words with the commentators in the presentation area.

The idea of a professionally led BCCI sounds good. Not only will it help the team in its performance on the field but also make sure that the dirty politics are kept out. The choice for the CEO should be someone who has been a cricketer, played in games, has tasted success and defeat and one who understands intellectually what a cricketer can go through during his stay on and off the field, rather than people like Dalmiya who favor individuals based on regional and personal interests. Yes, I am a strong anti-Dalmiya person and I will make no effort to hide my displeasure about the Dalmiya backed camps that run the show in a nation of over 1 billion people!

BCCI doesn't care to improve domestic cricket or indian pitches. Domestic cricket becomes important only when international players are left out,isn't?
Good! India is planning for world cup from a year itself--unlike olympics(the less said the better).
Nothings impossible.

I don't think getting Sehwag by default is bad. Someone must have seen something for him to be vice-captain for all this time and the acting captain when required. Just because he is aggressive in the way he plays doesn't mean he does not have an acumen inferior to Dravid or Tendulkar. Perhaps the fact that he is India's only test triple centurion should be a good enough indicator. The limited opportunities he's had he's not done bad at all.

The biggest support he will have is that he is the same age group as all the freshers in the team today and these are people who'll be playing in time to come. Sehwag will be senior enough to command respect and yet be just like a friend. It couldn't get any better.

The question that gives me shivers-is the all dirty politics, infighting,rivalry, jealous & power hungry personalites from top to down, left to right - just all over.From a population of 1 billion plus can u not present a team that can beat anybody?Sounds strange indeed.The demand for good players matches the supply or the supply is greater than the demand in all sections of the game.The message to everybody from top to down should be YOU PLAY TO WIN- no excuses.If you win you stay in , if you lose you are out.Nobody is assured of place/position endlessly-just anybody can be replaced.STOP all that in fighting and work for common cause A TEAM THAT CAN BEAT ANYBODY & KEEPS WINNING.

Hi all,
Great to hear so many intelligent comments. Please indulge my, as I am going take off on a tangent. Suddenly there is competition for places in the team and nobody's place in the side seems certain anymore. Now that makes me wonder, how come all of a sudden so much talent has suddenly cropped up. The boys are being presented challenges and are meeting them head-off and in most cases delivering. I hypothesise that it is not a case of talent suddenly emerging but the biys being told that "We believe in you and your abilities and THEREFORE we are going to throw you in the deep end". Then this guy, with support from the team support staff has an extended run in nets to prepare for the role. Are there lessons for us there in choosing the next captain? Be it Kaif or Sehwag or Pathan or whosoever, there has to be total belief in his abilities and TRAIN him and provide him the additional skills needed to do the job. I suppose that the question that Ashok raises should not raise any alarms (or send shivers!!) as it is simply a question of planning and implementation. A professional approach by the team management should be quite sufficient to handle the issue. I dont expect BCCI to be a positive contributor to the process, and just hope that it will somehow manage to keep its hands off Indian cricket.

Well, just one question to this esteemed audience, do you think that constant change of roles (or "strategizing" as Chappel put it the other day) would not hamper development of "core competencies" or specialists a.k.a. Micheal Bevan at No. 6 or Rahul Dravid at No. 3 (in tests)?
best
Vivek

How about RP Singh as the captain of the indian team?

Some of you people talk crap. I mean Dalmiya has done so much for Indian cricket. The power that Indian cricket board weilds in World cricket is just because of this man. He is a very cunning and shrewd marwari and he knows what he is doing exactly. He is here to make BCCI rich and he is doing his job perfectly well. To perform and not to perform is the work of player, coach and selectors and not Dalmiya's.

Okay now let's talk about captaincy. Kaif has that ability and agility to do it. He reads his cricket well and tries to adapt himself (sometimes not successfully). He just has to be groomed (a term that many of you used). He is one man who should not be experimented with. South Africa did it with Smith. Smith had just came into the side and he had hardly performed but he was thrust into captaincy after the awe-inspiring era of Cronje. Okay, ageed that Kaif need not be put into captain's place now, but he is performing with his feelding, motivation, and sometimes with bat. Go back to the early era of Azhar's performance in one day cricket and you will see the resemblence between azhar and kaif.

Also, kaif deserves a place in test matches rather than yuvraj. yuvraj out in tests and kaif comes in while ganguly retains his place.

Whatever said and done, what team India now has is a bunch of 'talented' players. Those holy white elephants- Ajay Sharmas, Ashish Kapoors, Devang Gandhis, and the list goes on- who creeped into the team from no where are missing. No matter who leads the team, offlate, with the right talent being given the green signal, India has and will enjoy a descent ascent.

i choose dhoni.the guy's got good head on his shoulders.check out him his one-day games so far and you will notice when things are going tough, he doesn't lose his head get out of the trouble by hitting wild shots like sehwag. neither does he choke the runs like kaif. he's more balanced. he's improving behind the stumps too...he's one cool headed man who knows what do in what situation.....and that's what makes a great leader....

Well, nothing gives me shivers- OK, may be a lot of things do but definitely not the two things debated here. Remember, not to far back, a certain Chandrashekhar was the PM, the country was on its knees and the Economist was calling India a 'caged tiger'. Surely, BCCI is no worse than the political shenanigans we are accostomed to and yet the country and its people march on. So would Indian cricket.

Similarly, not so long ago, I was living in Australia and ashamed of our repeated spineless displays on tour there. This from a team which had stood up against the mighty West Indies, better than the rest in the eighties. There were folks like Sunny, Vishwanath, Vengsarkar, Kapil and Mohinder who never got their just due from the anglocentric media outside the subcontinent. Then the 'betting/match fixing' made one truely shiver. Suddenly, a new capatain and coach made all that despondency go away. For the first time in Indian cricket, there was a captain who did'nt give a rat's a** about the reputation,history or colour of the opponents. Same for within team politics, camps or regionalism. It was no longer required that one had to play for Bombay or Delhi to be in the Indian team. The best was how he annoyed the best of Aussies and the English and the Indian team stared back at them on their home turf. So, for all the carping about Sourav, give the man his due. Let him fight to regain his place like any one else by providing the evidence on the cricket field without casting aspersions. Taking the Australian example, captain grumpy, Allan Border, did not leave exactly on a cheerful note. Mark Taylor's subsequent success did not diminish Border's role in getting the team ready for its successes. When Dravid is ready for the sunset, one of the 'small town' boys will be ready to take on the baton. No need to shiver on who it will be. They are all capable and know sufficient 'English' to get their point accross to the opponents (excluding our cross-border bretheren). Surely, their English will be better than the opponents Hindi any day !

It is not surprising that the former captain has been forgoten in a whiff after just 9 odis but that's India for you. Sourav's form has been disastrous in the past few years and if he were not the captain he surely wouldnt have been in the team. But if the benchmark is laid, then India's inconsistent performances in the preceeding 2 years have much to with the form of his fellow teammates with both bat and bowl rather than his alone. All barring the present captain have struggled. Even the so called megastar Tendulkar has been playing 1 in 4 innings on an average but nobodys there to raise hue and cry about it. In his case everybody is going by his records while for sourav only current performances count. It is indeed a shame that the Indian public has meted out such a treatment to the best captain their country ever produced who gave them an idea of what an overseas Test win was which for the past two decades seemed an illusion. Let us see how long the Dravid Chappell magic works and how soon the public pulls them down from their pedestal. As for the future, none of the players mentioned have been consistent in either form of the game as their predecessors were at this stage of their careers so the captaincy issue is long away from being decided.

The idea that " stands up to the media, doesn't wilt into diffidence when confronted with an English-speaking commentator at the end of the game, has opinions to offer – will do." seems ridiculous. We want a captain who is a showman or good captain? In past, even with dravid now, there were captains from metropolitans who spoke english. Now with spread of cricket, we have players from smaller cities that might not have a command of english. But thats no reason to eliminate them from conisderation. Face it, cricket is a professional game now, not just a past time for the english speaking elite.

Captian or no captian, we need batsmen who could contribute 40-50 with the bat and save another 30-40 in the feild and more importantly, what team india needs is bowlers who can take 10 wickets every game.then and only then india will be able to gain upper hand in matches. cuz every1 talks of sachin tendulkar as match winner. but since his operation desertstorm in sarjah how many of us have missed his single handed destruction of opposition. lets face it aussies are no better than us if they're minus mccgrath n warne. a captians job is only to execute the strategies formulated by coach and himself.Also a captian is only as good as his team. and it goes for india too.

It would be trite to note that India is doing well at this moment under Dravid but we must give the men in blue some time before foreseeing the fututre captain. Honestly, I don't see Mohd. Kaif as being the captain in the future. Two reasons; he is still playing at the shorter version of the game only and his inconsitent form and injury plagued career. There is no doubt about his cricketing acument but to captain India is a hard one for him. I will put my money on Sehwag.

Democracy in India is government of the politicians, by the criminals, for the public money, doesn't matter whether it is a federal government or BCCI. Only solution to Indian cricket problems is to hire a white captain as well, maybe a non-playing one. Simple!

Most cricket players who make the national level have captained teams at some point. The current bunch of captaincy contenders are going to be around for a few more years. The time to groom a new captain is in two years time. With the newcomers like doing well as they keep coming ....the future captain could well be the aggressive, mature and focused Dhoni?!

Basically, why are we in a hurry to write Dravid's epitaph? I think the World Cup will just be a landmark along the way...Dravid is very fit, very focused and has waited a long time for this opportunity. I see him at the helm at least for the next four years. Four years is a long time to worry about who the next captain will be.Right now, the aim should be to start winning series abroad, starting with Pakistan and the West Indies.

While talking about Ganguly and his controbution to the team, why does everyone talk about his achievements after 2000? That was 5 years ago. When he was delivering, he was captain for 5 years. What we really need to see are his contributions during the past year and a half. The fact is that his lack of batting form was affecting his leadership and captaining style and the whole fabric of the team and that shows in the results over the past few months. He was cast aside when his utility expired. If he wants to play again, it is entriely upto him. He can perform well in domestic cricket and gain his place back. But to play him in the Indian team just because he lifted India out of a rut after 2000 match fixing scandal does not make sense. This is professional sport, not a familiy affair, where you condone a person simply because he helped you out when you were down.

I agree with Kedar. There is no doubt, that Ganguly was one of the best captains we've had and a top class batsmen. But to stay at the top you need to consistently perform well, and of late Saurav has been scoring only against club class bowling attacks. If past glory were to have been the only criterion for selection, Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar might as well fancy their chances. I feel Ganguly should be given one last chance to prove himself as a batsman again, and if he makes a mess of it, well....goodbye Saurav.

I know Iam digressing from the point but it is strange and apalling to see that BCCI is letting go of a pot of gold in domestic cricket.

I mean with the Chapells of the world willing to come down here and coach, I dont see why players who trundle all the way to England to play county cricket wont come down and play in India.

Also by the same token, we have seen grounds like Mohali and even Jaipur take the pitch and the stadium to a new level. Would it not be possible to transform our domestic cricket scene to be one that matches if not betters the English cricket scene.

I mean imagine this if in Ranji Trophy each team has about two or three overseas players and dynamic coaches. Crowds would fill stadiums and therefore associations would make money and in turn players would.

More importantly automatically BCCI gets another new channel that will get in a completely new revenue stream. To begin with we will get players from Bangladesh, Srilanka and Pakistan coming in. If we develope good infrastructure and offer lucarative remunaration we will have Aussies, Pommies and even the West Indians coming over.

Come on if it can happen in Indian "football" or whatever else the Calcuttan's play it can surely happen in cricket.

This will not just result in BCCI making more money but would also help in improving the general level of the game in the country and throw up so many more talents and cricket can truly become a profession that pays a decent sum.

Its good to note so many different opinions. I must say almost all seem possible (except for RP Singh as captain... I like the guy but dont you think its a bit too early to burden him).

Although I believe Saurav Gangulys attitude has completely redefined Indian Cricket in the recent years, I must also agree with his critics that there really is no place in the side for someone who does not perform. In todays day and age, Captaincy is less about decisions and more about who can take the fall or stand tall when the going gets tough. Most decisions off the field are in conjunction with the team management and on the field you always have the senior players chipping in with their 2 bits. Hence I do believe todays Captains do not have much thinking to do. What is unforgivable is a lack in form because that is what you are paid to do primarily.

I would also like to applaude the decisions to give the budding talents a chance to prove their skills... how it has worked is amazing. Who would know players such as Suresh Raina, Venugopal Rao (remember that flat square cut for six?). These guys have proved that they have it in them. What they need to get used to is the 50,000 screaming Indian fans and the atmosphere.

Still believe there is a future for Indian Cricket after Tendulkar / Dravid / Kumble and co have departed BUT.... We must start nurturing talent. We have an Australian coach...who would know better than them how to do that? Lets think positively and support the game rather than encourage those that cause more confusion.

There is no doubt in my mind that Sourav has instilled a different confidence and aggression in the India cricket players.It is important to note that a skippers role is not only that what we see on the field of play. it is definitely not defined by a persons ability to speak english although our commentators make it out to be so sometimes. In my opinion Gautam Gambhir is going to be the Indian captain/ vice captain soon....Watch this space!

First about a test team that is going to last for atleast 3-4 years . Sehwag is now a regular opener in tests . The other temporary opener now is Gambhir . Well, I think Ganguly made a huge mistake asking Yuvraj to open in tests against Australia . Although that was a good idea because Yuvi is too good a player to miss out on tests . But I think he should have been asked to open for Punjab first and get some experience to face the moving ball and only after that he should have been asked to open . I think it was asking too much from him by sending him to open for the first time against Australia . But at the present moment I think Gambhir is doing O.K. I think he needs to be more patient rather than trying to match Sehwag stroke by stroke . The spots for 3 and 4 should be occupied by Rahul and Sachin for another 3-4 years . Now for no.5 my man is Venu rather than Laxman . I think this guy has a lot of potential and can be successful in tests . No.6 should go to Kaif . Wicketkeeper should be Dhoni . Bowlers can be shuffled depending on the nature of the pitch .

Now my point is Rahul should step down as captain after the 2007 WC from both tests and ODI's and Kaif should lead the team with Rahul and Sachin in the side so that by the time Rahul and Sachin retire he would be comfortable with the job . My other contenders for the job in a priority basis are Dhoni , Pathan and Sehwag .

Hi,

Whenever I read all the comments, I remember the countless missed opportunities India has had in the past. Right from TA Shekar, Barath Arun, Vivek Razdan, Deb Das gupta, Mohanty and umpteen number of quality players who missed it because they had no god fathers.

I think this has to change if we have any hope of winning the world cup. No better time to do this than with Dravid and Chappel.

One point about Murali Karthik is he has proved as a good leg spinner and a good fielder time and again. Its important to give him a consistant stay at the top so that he matures into a strike spinner. The team has to invest atleast 30% of its team strength to unearth more such people and give them a longer stay at the top.

It appears probables are more playing for the contract (levels A, B and C) rathar than for becoming world class players.

I hope chappel's new process-flexibility-performance approach re-structures the Indian team selction system.

vasu

I was of the same opinion as Ashok Malik for years when Indian players used to mess up, when called to speak in post match short interviews. It made me cringe, many a time with their tongue tied approach but watching cricket over the years, I have understood that Cricketing talent may not be really directly connected with how well you communicate in English. It will definitely help but that by itself is by no means an assurance that things can go as per plan. I watched Shewag captain in ODI (and even he will agree that his English is way behind) and looking at the way he egged the bowlers and fielders in 'shudh' Hindi, I conclude that English communication is not that important. India is a complex country and to manage and excel with folks from different regions, you need a variety of skills but most important will be to lead by example. When the chips are down, can you take up the mantle and do it yourself totally?...here is where Kapildev like personality comes in. Kapil was not a great communicator when he began; he matured with years. I am sure Shewag too will do. In the future lot, I will go with Yuvaraj. He has got loads of talent, can do attitude, cocky attitude in fact and most important..can play Pace bowling that can come in handy in tests and ODIs. He can do it all and perhaps the only thing which he may have to watch out is that his team mates should not feel that he is too distant from them. At times, Yuvaraj can be way too assured for his own benefit but again, given space, he too can be groomed.

I think bakra was being sarcastic, if some people didn't get it.

Intresting question. But....
The core of Shewag, Yuvraj, Kaif, Pathan, Dhoni, Harbhajan and Balaji looks more promising than the core of Ganguly, Kumble, Laxman, Dravid and tendulkar at the same stage in their career about 8-10 years ago. (although Tendulkar was a phenomena by that time and Dravid looked very good too). Dravid could go on for many more years, given his sound batting technique and lack of injuries. So, the future for next 8 years looks a lot better than it did 8 years ago. Good management of developing skills and coaching could make a big difference.
Given the amount of cash inflow for career in cricket in India, it would be a shame if India doesn't stay as one of the top cricketing countries for years to come.

bakra ki jai ho

bakre beta,
aajkal sarcastic ho gaye ho.

After Dravid? Kaif is an interesting option, but shouldn't he be allowed to be an integral part of the Test side first? Kaif would get my vote (for whatever it counts), but India will definitely be better served by a bowling captain. The selectors seem to be more tolerant towards bowlers than batsmen, which in turn is a direct outcome of the sheer number of batsemn out there. Harbhajan possesses an attacking instinct and is young (and good enough) to remain captain for a reasonable period of time. A fast bowler again is a denizen of that nonsense locality "the selectors' whim". Go for Hahbhajan, I'd say!

Sehwag is definitely the next captain (unless he gets into a long rut or injury problems).

The current and next generation of cricket is the Sehwag/Dhoni/Pathan era.
Aggressiveness is a requirement.

You can see this not only in Indian Cricket, Adam Gilchrist, Ponting, Hayden all play attacking cricket and that is how they won consistently and the guys who kicked them off their comfort seats - Flintoff and Pietersen are of the same mould.

The more these players play, they get better in their skills and even learn to graft depending on the situation. (Check Pietersen's century against Pakistan).

Here's more to Sehwag's credentials:

Infact, who would have thought Sehwag would be a Test Opener. Remember the list of guys before him (all technically correct and promising when they showed up - S.S Das, Chopra for instance).

Modern Cricket is about attacking and that is the only form of defense. Well sure, that is not always the best strategy but you get to win more by attacking.

Kaif has been regarded as Sehwag's competition, we havent even seen him play consistently like Dravid, even in the many outings he has got in one dayers.

My full bet is on the following combination:

Dravid/Sehwag

Sehwag/Pathan or Sehwag/Dhoni

The challenge for Pathan will be his consistency in bowling, Dhoni will be his wicket keeping skills

And for Sehwag will be media and critics.

How about Dhoni as the future Captain of TEAM INDIA ?