Who's the capTEN??

A lot has been written and said about the future captain of the Indian cricket team for the real cricket(Test matches!). Yes a bit of a thought from the old school but that is the fact. Test cricket is so much different to the ODI's that it's almost like a full three course meal vs fast food!It requires a lot of grit,determination and character to play the test matches. Not just that it has to be played with a good blend of patience and good strategical thinking. One can only imagine what it would need to be the test captain of the Indian team!

Tendulkar, the golden boy of Indian cricket, was the front runner for this post till this morning. Mind you he is not very glittering when it comes to captaincy though! My understanding of this whole saga is that the selectors approached Tendulkar for this job as if he was the only obvious choice. I beg to differ here as I strongly think that there are more than one contenders for this post. Sachin is a master of the game but his two previous shots at captaincy were far from his sweetly timed cover drives on the field. He has won only 4 of the 25 test matches that he has captained. That is a poor record by any standards. I do not believe that the best player in the team has to be the captain. Of course, your captain needs to be a good player but more importantly he should be a good captain!In Sachin's case, this time, it looked as if it was a fixed match till he declined the offer this morning(for reasons best known to him!).

The other options to seriously consider are people like Kumble, Ganguly and even Dhoni perhaps!To all the VVS fans, I am sorry but a captain needs to be a constant part of a team and Laxman, I think loses out there due to his inconsistency at this level. Kumble,also, should not be a serious contender as he is probably at the fag end of his career. Being an ardent fan of Ganguly, I would certainly back him to take up this role. It should not be easy to forget his impeccable record of being the most successful Indian test captain ever!Yes he had a dip in his form(batting) in between but isn't he well and truly back in the side now!!Looking ahead to (arguably) the toughest two test series for India (against Pak and the Aussie's), Ganguly will bring in the right blend of aggression, experience and character.


Let's not forget another exciting option in the form of a budding captain in Dhoni. Yes, I know that he has only played about 20 test matches and he is relatively inexperienced in this form of the game but lets not forget that he will still have the team behind him. The team comprising of the three most experienced players for India in Sachin, Dravid and Ganguly to assist him in every way and mould him in the right manner. Looking at the future of the Indian cricket, I certainly would say that one should take this educated punt and give the youngster an opportunity to prove himself.


Despite this hype created by the media one should not forget that at the end of the day this is just like any other job in the world(only 10 times more complicated!hehe). It's high time we accept that our messiah of cricket has a bit of a handicap when it comes to captaincy(with all due respects) and people who are willing to do the job should be given their share.The captain can only be as good as his team.One should not forget that he is only a driver for the team and each individual player still needs to give in his best every game.


On the lighter side, we have been doing exceedingly well without a coach.Maybe a team without a captain is not a bad option either!!Are you listening Mr Selector??